Effects of Black and White
by GraNNIeShufflez03
Summary: When Dick stumbles upon lost items from his past it leads him to answers he's been seeking since the incident 4 years prior. Who exactly are John and Mary Grayson? Was their death truly an accident or something more sinister? With the help of friends, a mission, and a new face, Dick will find what he's looking for. Even if it destroys him.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I've been an avid reader of fanfiction stemming from a wide variety, mostly tv, cartoon, and anime oriented. Mostly. That being said this is my first fanfiction, I hope you enjoy. Any feedback, any criticism CONSTRUCTIVE would be appreciated. XD.

All Young Justice members are in the story regardless of it centering mainly around Robin and his story-line.

Disclaimers:

Apologies now for OOC-ness. Kaldur, Conner, and Roy may be the biggest challenges but I will do my best.

OC- As much as I would like to claim the Crimson Avenger-Lee Walter Travis, and Wing How as my own I can't. I can claim Wing's…AU character if I can call it that as he has a completely diff personality, name, background blah blah blah. I've based both characters closer to Green Hornet and Kato seeing as there is more information and C.A and W.H are based off of G.H and K. (Lazy Habit.) Look it up of ur not savvy I know I had to. XD.

Uh oh…I DO NOT own Young Justice, The Justice League, Green Hornet, Kato, etc…They belong to their respective creators. If I did…hahahahahahahhahaha. Oh a person can dream.

Chapter

Another night of patrolling…Another night of patrolling and avoiding Green Arrow better known as Oliver Queen and even better yet as the ex-partner to Red Arrow. That was a meeting the lone redhead wanted to avoid at all costs as he sat on the edge of a 24 story building…Watching…Waiting. The last time Ollie wanted to actually talk ended in him angrily storming off, the later calling him and regrettable even still, using his old identity Speedy.

_Not doing that again_, the redhead grumbled in his mind. Sighing to release pent up anger Roy took out one of his arrows twirling it absentmindedly in between his fingers like one would do drum sticks, his eyes scanning the streets bellow for any potential threat.

"This is stupid," he muttered just minutes later before sticking his arrow forcefully back into the quiver. Cracking his neck he stood fully intending to move to the building closest to him before hearing a commotion not too far away in the other direction. "Finally," Roy said as he ran to that side and jumped from one building to the other. It took him three buildings and a fire escape but when he finally got there he crept silently to its edge to scout out what was going on.

Roy, if he were anyone else, would have pulled out his hair at what he stood witness to. "This guy has got to be kidding me," Roy growled out as he watched a lone male fighting at least fifteen people, most of which were already on the ground out cold. The thing that grated on his nerves was that the male was fighting bare fisted against fifteen ARMED men all of which looked like they could break him in two if they managed to grab him…or take him out with their metal bats and crowbars.

A far cry from the tight suit that Red Arrow and the other hero's typically wore this male was wearing the uniform of a chauffeur. Black high collard top with black slacks and shoes. His hat had long since landed on the ground, but what drew Roy's attention were the dark red gloves and domino mask obscuring a good look at his face behind black bangs.

Racking his brain for any hero in the League that would wear such a get-up Red Arrow could only think of one person but he knew they weren't them. He had met the Crimson Avenger once before when he was still working alongside Green Arrow. The male was a pretty good detective in his own right – a fighter he was not. That was all left to his, at the time absent, body guard.

"So this is him," Red Arrow mumbled to himself reaching for an arrow. He was just about as elusive as his partner if not more so, both tending to slip out of a crime scene before anyone, especially the authorities even noticed they were there. Branded as criminals themselves Roy figured he'd watch for a bit and see for himself what the male was about. Oliver had no real problem with Crimson, but that only said so much about one's partner. _Especially_ if the word was coming from his own mentor.

Roy watched as the male brutally, even in his opinion, beat the goons down one by one. Managing to strip one male of his bat he hurled it at another before kicking the previous male in the throat knocking him into another. Ducking a crowbar he punched the attacker in the ribs and spun, hook kicking the male in the back of the head before dropping down to the ground avoiding another crow bar.  
>Tripping that male up he sent him into a recovering goon, popping back up on his feet, blocked a wild punch and delivered his own blow to the males jaw. When he dropped the black clad male had enough time to look around before once again blocking a, this time, well aimed shot to the ribs. Grabbing a hold of the beefy arm he tripped the male up taking them both to the ground slamming the goons head against the concrete for an instant knock out.<p>

Seeing enough Roy notched the arrow he held and took aim at one of the goons sneaking up on the masked fighter and shot. _Right on the money_, Roy thought notching another arrow as the goon went down. He noticed the Avengers body guard throw a quick glance over his shoulder taking in the arrow before continuing to fight, just five left.

Not the only one to miss the arrow two of the goons became distracted for all of a few seconds allowing for the black clad male to knock them out quickly. Red Arrow took out the last three easily before dropping down to the ground in front of stranger. Better that then behind, taking someone off their guard after that display he'd rather not fight if he didn't have to.

Now eye to eye Roy was surprised to say the least. Expecting someone older he stood in front of the male who was about the same age and height as he. He was Asian in decent, probably Chinese or Korean with his fighting style, but not one to stereotype…too much…he wasn't going to say. Holding his own for that long Red Arrow wasn't surprised to see the male had a few bruises on his jaw and cheek, blood from a cut running down his temple.

The Asian male was the first to speak after quickly sweeping the area. "Thank you Red Arrow," he added a slight bow to the red head.

"Don't mention it…" Red Arrow waited all of two seconds for the male to introduce himself; growing annoyed when all he did was turn his head and scan the ground for something. "You are?"

Snapping back to attention the male regarded Red Arrow almost in the same fashion the other male had him before answering completely disregarding the bite of annoyance that showed through the redhead's voice. "Rokuro." Bowing again he straightened up before sticking his hand out in the American tradition of greeting someone.

_Rokuro? __**Really**__?_ Internally shaking his head Roy sighed before asking the question that sat on the tip of his tongue.

"What is the Crimson Avengers bodyguard doing all the way in Star City?" Roy asked after shaking hands. _Be friendly_, he told himself trying to keep the bite out of his voice, for the most part at least He had remembered a conversation with his raven haired little brother about how the Avenger would show up unannounced at times in Gotham. _Repeat encroacher_, Rob had called him, _Seems like his partner is good for that too_, he thought.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when Rokuro's accented voice sounded in the otherwise silent alley. "Some of these are from the city. They walked off with an unknown item and so I came to collect it."

At this Rokuro went back to searching around not moving from his position. Seeing what it was he was looking for he walked over to one of the goons that Red fell, knelt down and grabbed a medium sized black box out of his jacket pocket.

"Look. I don't know how long you've been on the scene, but you need to warn others when your people and you are in their city," Roy stated. "Things can go a lot smoother than they did. I could have shot you. _Especially_ if you were up to no good…"

"Noted." Pocketing the box, Rokuro once again made a scan of the area before finding what he was looking for when Red Arrow had first introduced himself to him. Underneath one of the goon's legs was a crunched black hat. His…now _crunched_ hat. Shaking his head he walked over and kicked the male's leg before snatching his hat from the ground. Dusting it off he thought about placing it on his head before stuffing it into his uniform instead, _not happening_.

Walking back to Red Arrow he regarded him for another moment before reaching back into his jacket retrieving the black box. "Here."

"Excuse me?"

"The league will respond better to you if you are the one who gives it to them. Not me."

"If you haven't heard, I'm not with the league anymore." It came out harsher than Roy wanted it to, but why should he care? Rokuro didn't seem fazed by it anyway.

"Last I heard you denied the Young Justice yet still help out the league from time to time. Crimson and I may not be in good standing with you and the others, but word does pass." Rokuro held the box out closer to Red Arrow who stared blankly at him.

"So…I'm an errand boy to you?"

"They will listen to _you_ a lot better."

_Not gonna bite are you?_ Red Arrow thought before settling with a simple "Yea huh." Baiting people was a past time for him, probably why he and Green Arrow always got into it so much in the first place. _If G.A wasn't such a tool._

"You are not like the others." Rokuro twisted the box in his hand the whole while looking at Red Arrow. "Most of the league members wouldn't have given me a second thought. Get the situation under control and off to the station I go, yet here we are talking. So it would be in my best interest for you to take it."

That statement made Roy stop and think. It was possible the others would have done just that. Not many of the members had agreed with the way the Crimson Avenger operated bordering on the lines of thievery and manipulation although he wasn't that far from Batman in his methods. They were slightly more illegal, but when was anything they did ever not slightly illegal?

_If he smirks I swear I'll punch him in the face…with the box_. Roy took the item mumbling obscenities under his breath. If the male standing in front of him heard, once again why should he care? "Keep your name out of it right."

"That would be nice yes."

"Whatever." Turning to head back into the alley Red stepped on one of the goons feeling slightly better before waving the box in the air. "Should just chuck it at Ollie and call it a day," Roy thought out loud the curiosity getting the better of him, however.

If it was important he could at least get a good and interesting job out of it. If not, turn right back around and say adios to the league once again. Not to mention he could check up on the squirts. He hadn't spoken to Robin and Wally in a while all three at fault for not keeping in touch. He would never come out and tell them he missed them anyway. Just wasn't his way. The joys of being his own man.  
>He'd leave the clean-up to Rokuro. It may have been his city, but he hadn't made the mess…<em><strong>This time<strong>_.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice etc. etc. etc

Note: Slight ever so slight Superman and Wonder Woman Bashing…Not a fan.

Chapter 2.

Recognize Red Arrow B06.

Red Arrow stepped into the Zeta tube room internally glad for once that the female automated voice hadn't called him Speedy. That meant that Robin and KF weren't going to get pummeled when he set eyes on them. It was always nice to know that his little brothers could learn from a few arrows, being hung upside down, and in the case of the mini bat, wrapped in his own cape _withou_t his belt.

He had called ahead to Batman and the other lead league members he could get in contact with knowing that whatever it was he was handing them they all would want to know about. After Ollie had found out about him working for Luther a few months back he didn't want to hear his mentor's mouth about keeping anything from him. Like that mattered anymore now that he was working solo.

_Whatever._

Walking into the meeting room Roy was met with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Arrow. No Black Canary in site meaning that she was, at the moment, busy with the brats in training.

_Great, _the redhead sighed to himself in dismay, _No one to play mediator today._

"Debrief."

_Really?_ Roy was half ready to step into attention and salute the older male, thinking better of it. Batman was always so rigid. He didn't know how Rob did it.

"Ran into some punks in an alley and picked this up." Roy handed the black box to Wonder Woman's out stretched hand knowing the detective standing right next to her had picked up immediately on the lie. It wasn't like he was going to say anything on the matter. Something he was always grateful about when it came to the bat.

_So far in the clear._

"So, Crimson's partner had nothing to do with it?"

_Damn you_. Roy, if he could, would have leveled Green Arrow in those few seconds he opened his mouth. Turning to the older man as to not see the disapproving faces of the other occupants of the room, Roy spoke. "Yeah he's the one who gave it to me. What of it?" No sense in lying now.

"You do know we can't really trust what those two are up to," Diana told Red Arrow sending him a look that said not to argue.

_Like that ever worked_. Crossing his arms, Roy tilted his head to get a better look at Wonder Woman and Superman. Those two would be the hardest to talk to about anything. Both could punch through walls and had skulls just as thick.

Right on cue the Boy Scout piped up with his _unwanted_ two cents. "They steal and manipulate to get what they want, which for the most part, nobody knows." He glanced to the Dark Knight who remained silent before continuing. "Did he even give a reason for why he was in Star City?"

"Same reason why they visit any city," Roy answered easily.

"And he couldn't have given this," Wonder Woman held up the box, "to anyone of _us_? They know how to get in contact with the League if need be."

"And get received with such warmth?" Red scoffed. "You think _so_ highly of them."

"Listen why don't we just see what it is?" Green Arrow knew that Diana and Clark would be hard to deal with, but not this hard. Maybe he should have kept what he had seen that night a secret.

"I agree." Green Arrow let out a sigh as Batman had finally spoke. _Thank you._ "Superman…"

Taking the box from Wonder Woman the man of steel stared at the box using his x-ray vision to see the contents without the risk of opening it. They had no clue what was inside, nor why Rokuro was so eager, in their opinion, to hand it over instead of returning it to where it belonged.

"It's lined with lead."

"Call Hal and Martian Manhunter," Turning to Red Arrow Batman regarded the young man with a knowing look before speaking. "If you see Rokuro again tell him I would like to speak with him."

Immediately catching the undertone of the sentence Roy nodded. "I'm pretty sure you'll see him before even Crimson does, but whatever." There was no way he was going to say no to the bats. Anyone else sure, but Batman…He'd pass. "On one condition."

"That being?"

Ignoring the Boy Scout, Roy spoke solely to Batman. "The minute you know what's in the box I want in the loop."

"Fine." Green Arrow glared at Batman, the dark knight clearly not caring.

"Good." With that Red Arrow turned away from the group and left the room; not before hearing the first few bits of Green Arrow blowing up on Batman. Oh how he'd like to be a fly on the wall for that one! He'd go tell Dinah to pick up her boyfriend off of the meeting room floor later.

"Again." Black Canary stood at the sidelines watching as Kaldur helped Robin back up to his feet in the middle of the room. So far it had been a tie with Robin winning the first match and Kaldur coming back in the second. This next round would be the last for the day as everyone else had already gone, M'gann coming up on top between her and Kid Flash while Superboy surprisingly had lost to Artemis. Zatanna was improving greatly in hand to hand giving her a run for her money.

Roy walked into the room standing off to the side with Black Canary watching as Robin and Kaldur walked to opposite sides of the mats.

"What's the score?"

"Tied right now," Canary answered before blowing her whistle. It was less of a hassle to have the whistle versus her using her powers to get the teens to start or stop fighting.

The fight seemed pretty intense with Aqualad and Robin only staring each other down for the first few seconds before the Boy Wonder quickly advanced on the older male. Running right at Aqualad the acrobat did a flying jump spin hook kick, only to come up empty, quickly ducking from a punch roundhouse kick combo. The mini bat flipped over the Atlantean's head making to sweep for the legs only to once again meet air as the older male jumped away.

Popping back up Robin advanced again, feigning a roundhouse with his left foot before switching at the last second and catching Aqualad in the ribs. As he was about to go in for another kick, his eyes widened behind his mask as he wasn't expecting for the other male to recover so quickly or for his leg to be grabbed. Before he was able to break out of the hold he found himself on his back, flipping up and away from the male who had come down with an axe kick.

Aqualad charged in, this time feigning a few punches if only to feeling the younger male out before distracting him with a low kick to create an opening in the boy wonder's defense, aiming a punch at his solar plexus. Roy was sure, had it been anyone else, they'd be on their back by now, but the little bat wasn't a bat for nothing. Returning the favor Robin side stepped the punch using Aqualad's momentum to send him over his shoulder and onto the ground.

Black Canary watched the fight for a while before directing some of her attention to the red head standing next to her. "So, did you talk with Oliver?"

_Oh my G- __**seriously**_? "No."

_Men._ "Roy."

"…"

_Fine._ "How did the meeting go?"

"Good, with all considering." She had been the only one he told in partial detail about where he had gotten the item from. Black Canary was far less likely to judge and hadn't treated him like a kid or an outsider since his departure. It was certainly something that he was glad for.

Keeping his eyes on the fight the whole while, Roy winced when Aqualad's stomach made contact with the bottom of Robin's foot. The Atlantean recovered quickly, allowing him time to move into Robin's next kick and effectively stopping him once again; this time coming in with an elbow aimed at the space between his shoulder and neck. It would have been a very effective knockout had the little bird not seen it coming at the last moment and dodged, getting only half of the force that had been behind the blow.

_That was going to hurt. _

Dropping slightly and clearly not focused from the hit, Robin didn't register the darker skinned male move in until he was on his back with a fist inches from his face. The white holes on his domino mask narrowed after a few seconds; s_o not feeling the aster. _

Aqualad stood up extending a hand out to his youngest friend who readily accepted.

"It was a good match Robin. You have greatly improved on your hand to hand these past few weeks."

"Thanks Aqua-"

"Eh, I've seen better from a cgi panda."

Blue eyes narrowed behind a black domino mask before a hand shot out, a bird-a-rang sent flying towards the voice. Turning around Robin gave a crocked grin to his oldest best friend whom was recovering from his slight dive out of death's way.

"Still mad about last week much?"

"Not at all."

"Yeah man, what would make you think that?" Roy was all too used to the younger red head popping up next to him unexpectedly. The extra weight on his shoulder and slight breeze that came after only solidified the fact.

"Greetings Red Arrow. I see you have witnessed the training."

"Yeah...Next time try not to go so easy on the pipsqueak." Robin's indignant look only made the older red head smirk. He knew he'd pay for that later, but it was so much fun to bust the kid's balls from time to time.

"I can assure you Robin's skill has put me on edge with every round. He was improved since the last time we sparred."

Shrugging at the Atlantean's words Roy shot a quick smirk at Robin. "If you say so." He turned slightly to Superboy who stood next to the entrance with M'gann. Nodding to the junior boy of steel he received one in return and a cheerful wave from the Martian.

Patting the older hero on the shoulder Aqualad made for the exit. "Good seeing you friend."

"Same."

"Will you be staying for a while Red Arrow? I baked some fresh cookies."

"Say no to drugs," Robin coughed out so that only he, Roy, and Wally could hear.

"Dude –!" Wally whispered back, elbowing his younger friend in the arm.

Holding back a snort, Roy shook his head. As politely as he could he told the young Martian that he was only down for a visit. "Maybe next time." That seemed to satisfy the bubble of smiles as she clapped her hands in glee and flew off, not before grabbing a hold of her boyfriend of course.

That left his two friends and his ex-partners new protégé in the room. One sweep told him that sometime before Black Canary had disappeared, probably to go find Green Arrow.

Roy matched glares with the Blonde who stalked away without a word flipping her pony tail over her shoulder on the way out. "Damn harpy."

"Thank you," KF said now snacking on a granola bar. "So seriously why are you really here?"

"I can't stop by and say hi?"

"You…_stop by_ and say _hi_…and possibly run into the league let alone Green Arrow if you don't have to?" Robin shook his head patting Roy on the arm. "My son you have much to learn."

"Shut it Pippin."

"So like Kid Glutton here asked," Robin said wearing an _I am so going to get you later for calling me a hobbit look_, "…Why the visit? We haven't heard from you in _weeks_."

"It takes three to communicate."

Robin rolled his eyes, a motion that anyone could have missed had it not been KF and Red Arrow in the room with him. "Dude, you know where we live."

"And yet one of you can run across seven states in 5 minutes and the other knows where every Zeta is in America…Yet you two trolls gang up on me?"

"As twisted and lazy as his logic is," Wally said smirking at both his best friends, "Red numero dos has a point."

"I'm older than you kid…By _three years_…and you call me the second?"

"Seeing as the Flash and I both wear red? Then yes. There's a common theme there Christmas."

"Alright Ronald."

"Shut it Little John."

"…Got to hell!"

"Already been."

"Troll."

"Geezer."

"Nerd."

"Ornery old goat."

"Alright Wendy and Raggedy Ann," Robin received a glare from both red heads, but ignored it. "Plans for the weekend?"

"Raggedy Ann's place!"

"Oh _hell no_!"

"Sounds good to me."

"Now wait just a min –!"

"Eight o'clock sound good?"

"Good for me."

"No way in –"

"Good we'll be over at eight, Friday night. Stock up on lots of food Roy Boy."

"…I hate you both."

"Love you too," both boys said in unison, twin smirks running across their faces.

"But Red…"

"What?" Roy growled out from behind clenched teeth. How they managed to invite themselves over to his place _every single time _he'd never know. At least this time they planned it with him first instead of picking his lock.

"You still haven't said why you're here."

"You'll know when I know."

"What's that supposed to –?" The younger of the red heads was cut off by the retreating male. "Hey!"

Roy continued to walk waving his hand in the air as he made his way to the entrance. "Eight, Friday right."

"…I _really_ can't stand him sometimes."

"Take a number and get in line," Robin said with a smirk. "Besides, I can hack the systems. We'll know why he was here."

"Dude…That is _**SWEET**_!"

Whelp that's all for this chapter. Will we find out what mysterious item is within this lead lined box? Will Roy **ever** get Robin and Wally to properly invite themselves over to his house? Will the Batman _ever_ crack a **smile**? Stay tuned to find out!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: As always I do not own no matter how much I would like to Young Justice. All likeness and the like of my original character go to DC as well. Blah blah blah.

Note:/Denotes mind signal sending telepath whatever it is M'gann does to talk to you in your head…Yeah… For those of you who like the Man of Steel….Read with caution. That is all. XD.

Extra side note::Thank you for the reviews, favs and story alerts. It means a lot and makes me all fuzzy inside to know that people like the story so far. I will do my outmost best to make sure it keeps ya'll entertained. XD.

Last extra side note: XD Thanks and a bagillion hugs to **Timexgone23** for helping me out with my chapters and mind blocks. If any of you are interested in Pirates of the Caribbean fanfictions hers is a baggillion times good. Keeps you guessing and on ya toes.

Chapter3

**Tuesday**

After a quick shower M'gann found herself in the kitchen working on more cookies. This time they were going to be chocolate chips – she had tried her hand at oatmeal raisin just the other day and nearly burned down the kitchen. Next time she would remember to go to the store and pick up raisins instead of trying to make them straight from grapes and Zatanna's powers. Humming to herself M'gann was so engrossed in her ingredient finding that she didn't notice someone else entering the kitchen. The swish of air that greeted the Martian, however, was enough for her to know that it was a speedster.

"Hey M'gann how's it cooking?"

Chuckling at his words she replied with a cheerful "hello" to the older male. Turning fully to face the older hero, M'gann graced the grinning man with a smile of her own. It was funny to her how easy going both speedsters were, their smiles able to brighten an already sun lit room.

Walking over to the junior hero, who had turned back to her cooking, Flash leaned against the table absently watching her.

"Have you seen Kid?"

Nodding her head M'gann stopped stirring the batter to give a verbal answer. "He was still in the training room with Robin and Roy. They might still be there."

"Thank you Miss M. Love the Oatmeal raisin cookies by the way." Sending her a wink and a half eaten cookie salute Flash lit out of the room making sure not to send everything in the room onto the floor. Smiling and shaking her head at the antics of the older hero she was about to get back to work when the Man of Steel entered.

_What is __**he**__ doing here?_

"Hello Miss Martian how are you?"

"Oh, hi Superman," M'gann said as cheerfully as she could muster when talking to the older hero. You could say that she was a tad bit biased against him due to his treatment of Connor. Then again she had noticed that when it came to all of her teammates that they were a bit cold with the older male, even Zatanna who had just joined the team.

After the magician had learned of the way the Man of Steel treated her friend and teammate she had to be talked down repeatedly to not turn him into a pig. The Martian could agree with her new earth sister, the guy was being pigheaded to the fullest.

"Heard about your last mission. Good job."

_Shouldn't you be saying that to Connor?_ M'gann thought keeping her face as neutral as possible. Besides if he wanted to talk he could start by telling them what he and the other senior members were doing at the cave. There hadn't been a mission briefing and Roy being there seemed a bit suspicious. She was sure she wasn't the only one to notice it either.

"Thank you Superman."

"Are you always baking?"

"For the most part. I'm trying to get down a recipe that everyone enjoys. So far it seems only Wally and Connor like them."

At the mention of his name Connor appeared at the entrance of the kitchen, Wolf at his side. About to open his mouth and say something he stopped when he spotted the other occupant in the room who wasn't M'gann. _What's he doing here? _Clark caught Connors look and turned away from the young teen not knowing exactly what to say.

Irritation could be felt rolling off Connor in waves, so much so that Wolf picked it up, growling slightly at the Man of Steel. Shooting him a cool look Connor walked over to M'gann draping an arm over her shoulder to see what it was she was baking this time. After their first mishap he had taken to helping her more and more, just as long as she wasn't using her powers. Everything turned out better that way…and less messy.

"Superman was just congratulating us on our last mission," M'gann told him while cracking the last egg into the bowl.

"Ah yeah," Superman sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his head. It was always so hard to talk to his clone while in a room with others, or any room really. He didn't know how to act around kids as it were and to have one dumped on him wasn't helping. It wasn't the kid's fault, he knew that, especially after getting drilled by Batman…then Flash, Green Arrow, Black Canary and even Hawk Girl. Clark was sure had Dr. Fate not taken over Zatara he'd have heard it from him as well.

Connor watched Superman as if waiting for him to say something else. Why exactly was it so hard for the older male to just say something? Connor hadn't asked to be cloned by the male, but he was here now and wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. _Coward._

He was sure that if he was actually able to shoot lasers out of his eyes, without the patches obtained from Luther, he and M'Gann would be making a cake instead of cookies right now. Seriously who did the guy think he was? It would be a cold day in hell, (he'd learned that expression from Robin whilst the young bird was playing video games with Wally) before he went asking the Man of Steel for help.

If Superman wanted to step up and be a man then maybe, just _maybe_ he'd listen, but Black Canary was doing a great job helping him with the basics of fighting and keeping his anger under control. Batman as rigid as he seemed to be had their best interest at heart and no matter what the Flash and Green Arrow where always good to give praise and constructive criticism after every mission. He didn't need Superman.

_I'm not even fully cloned from him anyway_. Connor was snapped out of his thoughts when someone in the room coughed to clear their throat. It was a nervous habit that he learned some people did when they were uncomfortable with things. Turning back to Superman, the Boy of Steel regarded him with a stone face waiting as patiently as he could for the male to get whatever it was off of his chest.

"Good job…Connor."

Blinking slowly at the older male Connor felt nothing but anger begin to boil at the surface of his emotions. "Whatever," he bit out before turning back to M'gann. The Martian feeling his distress intertwined the hand holding the bowl with his.

/Why don't you hold the bowl still for me while I stir?/

/Sounds like a plan./ Connor answered back with a slight smile to match his girlfriend's.

"I'll be taking my leave, but will be back within a day or so to catch up on details of your missions. Good day."

"Bye."

"See you later," M'gann called after the man of steel just a bit more meaningful than her boyfriend. She still, however, didn't give the older man the time of day to turn to him and speak. She would have heard it from her Uncle if he had of been in the room, but he wasn't. Respecting your elders was high on the list of things to live by on her planet, no matter Green or White Martian.

Looking down at Wolf who had settled down next to her feet she stopped her administrations and pet the meta-wolf on his head. "Good boy."

"Let's go." Batman nodded his head at his charge before turning sharply, his cape billowing behind him. How the man managed to get his cape to act as if there was a fan always on stand-by Robin would never know. He had run the thought by KF at one point, the older teen commenting that maybe he had an invisible fan built into the back of his suit. It was highly unlikely…_plausible_…but not likely.

Walking to catch up to his mentor, Robin stopped suddenly when a voice rang out in the room.

"Wait a second!" Wally zipped up next to Robin beaming one of his 10,000killawatt _you can't tell me no_ smiles. Bouncing on his heals Robin was tempted to ask the speedster exactly what was going on, but got cut off by his mentor.

Immune to the Bat glare, Batman knew even using it on the young male would be a waste. Besides, if he were anything like his uncle he was sure the male got some twisted fun out of it. It was no surprise to him hearing from Barry that it was his, quote unquote, "job to make the brooding bat's frown lines go away." Bats internally glowered at the memory. Bat's don't have frown lines…

"What."

"Flash said I could stay over for the night." Wally's smile, if possible had gotten all the more wide on seeing Batman's face. It was all he could do not to laugh when the left side of Batman's cowl twitched. Yep, next to Robin, only Speedsters could get the emotionless Dark Knight to show his human side under the cowl. You couldn't even really blame them, annoying the Bats _was_ always just so fun. That and he needed to lighten up every once and a while. Wally didn't know how Rob did it.

Knowing that he couldn't fight against the kid, least get attacked by Robin and his puppy eyes of doom, there was only one thing he could do.

"Home work."

That was all Wally needed to know that Bruce-er, Batman had agreed to him staying over…On a school night! Total and epic win! "YES!"

"You will be leaving for school on time." Way to stop a guy's internal victory dance.

Pouting, Wally crossed his arms over his chest. "That happened only once!"

"Too many. I will not have the Flash terrorizing my city (Or waking me from my sleep) just because you didn't get to first period on time."

"Yes sir," Wally saluted smiling even wider when Batman shook his head and walked away.

Robin was sure Bruce was calculating how much food he had in the manor and whether he'd have to have Alfred run to the store and buy more…The last time he ordered pizza, he and Wally had stayed up till 3 in the morning. Hence the speedster missing his first period class that day. The look on Bruce's face when Barry had showed up unannounced (he had sped past all the security), demanding to know what happened to his nephew was priceless. He wasn't going to let the brooding male know he still had the whole incident on camera. He'd use it for a rainy day.

"So, what shenanigans are we going to get into today?"

"I was thinking figuring out what Roy was here for seeing as we were interrupted." Robin gave a pointed look to the Dark Knight's back before going back to talking with Wally. "He should be going on patrol tonight leaving us to "watch" Ace."

"Well then what are we waiting for?"

Wally enthusiastically signed Secret Mission before halfway skipping to the zeta entrance. Robin shook his head at his supposedly older friend before running to catch up to the hyperactive teen.

Secret Mission indeed.

"I can't believe he did that!" Robin yelled throwing down his gauntlet with a huff onto his bed nearly hitting the red-head who was positioned there.

"Dude!"

Throwing his hands up into the air Robin huffed again before dropping them to his sides. "He blocked my access to the cave tapes from here."

"Tough…_Well_ you did sort of, kind of, if only just a little, eavesdrop on a conversation between the League just two weeks ago."

"Hey, it's not my fault they make things easy to hack into."

"Yeah, it's either that or you're a mini terrorist in disguise."

"Shut it Raggedy Ann."

"Wendy," Wally corrected with a smirk.

Ignoring his idiot of an older friend Robin plopped down onto the bed running his hands over his eyes, stripping off his domino mask in the process. Now how were they supposed to find out what little secret Roy was hiding from them? Sure that he knew more than what he was letting on Dick was aware that the older male wouldn't tell them what was going on unless he absolutely had to.

Interrupted by an annoying feeling bumping his leg he was greeted by huge chocolate round eyes peering up at him from the side of the bed. Ace had somehow, in his little internal rant, jumped onto the bed and retrieved the gauntlet thinking it was a game of fetch. The six month old Doberman wagged its stubby tail before dropping the toy down onto the floor at Dick's knee.

"Good job boy," Dick said giving ace a pat. He could say he never liked Ace chewing on his tech, who would, but the puppy was just that, a puppy. "Go find toy Flash."

"Excuse me?" Wally asked as Ace ran off out of the room to some where only he knew.

"Just wait."

It didn't take long (which in Wally's book still took forever) for the four legged bat to get back into the room. Wally didn't know whether to be flattered or somewhat disgruntled that the dog-bat had a plush Flash in his mouth, one of the arms, he could swear had cotton hanging out of it.

"You and Bruce are sick."

At his friend's expense Robin began to cackle. Taking the toy from Ace he threw it watching the puppy chase after it and bring it back.

"Does the Flash know you and Batman are plotting his demise? _Death by canine_."

"Oh come off it KF. That's his favorite toy."

"I'm not sure I should be happy that he loves chewing on a plush version of my uncle or scared that he would do the same thing to the real one."

Taking the toy again and throwing it at KF he laughed harder when Ace went after KF instead, latching onto the front of his jacket. "Huh, you want a piece of me fur ball, huh?" Wally asked playing tug of war with his jacket.

"So now what do we-gah! Hey!" Wally looked down at the puppy who now had his mouth wrapped around his pointer and middle finger. "Not a chew toy." Taking up the Flash toy he threw it, thanking no one in particular when Ace ran off after it.

"You should see what he did to the Superman toy." The troll like grin on his best friends face made Wally feel like he shouldn't even ask.

Flopping back onto the bed Dick sighed once again. They had already played CoD for two hours, homework was done, and they had already eaten…Well _he_ had already eaten. Wally could eat seven pizzas, a whole tray of lasagna and still be ready to eat twelve cheeseburgers in the next two hours.

"Dude you have like a huge mansion practically to yourself. I'm sure you haven't seen all of it."

"I've seen pretty much all of it."

"Pretty much?"

"Well besides a few rooms up top…Dude no-"

"Come ooooon! It'll be fun."

"You know I said that when I stumbled onto the bat cave. I would rather be able to see my next birthday."

"He doesn't have to…a…he would wouldn't he?"

"Yep."

Plopping back down on the bed mimicking Robin the ginger stared up at the ceiling in thought. An idea struck him in less than 30 seconds, thank you super speed thinking. It paid off **sometimes**. "I got it!" Turning to Dick he began to sign to him the plan he had just thought up. Wally had taught Dick how to sign after they had become close friends, it had been helpful when they started going on missions together and when plotting against Roy.

Wally still had yet to tell Rob that he had learned sign language from one of the Rogues, Pied Piper. Sure the Boy Wonder was his best friend, but Wally was sure that not even he would condone hanging around your cities villains, Rogues in his case. He would always defend that not everyone had to be beaten up to get the picture to stand down. Just look at Trickster. A promise of a few rounds of soft darts and he was as docile as a lamb. _Couldn't do that with the Joker_.

/Sounds like this plan may be very 'asterous./

/We're just going to have to take Ace with us. No sense in looping the footage if he's running around every room./

/Between that and keeping Al away from the area…No problem./

Setting their plan into motion Dick began tinkering with the cameras he knew Bruce had around different parts of the manor for security reasons. Looping the footage from when they started playing CoD from his gauntlet Dick picked up Ace and waited a few more seconds before Wally super-sped back into the room. He had, for good measure, turned on the videogame letting it start up. Al normally stayed away from the room when they were playing.

"Let's do this!"

A yip from Ace made both males look down. Apparently he too was feeling the aster.

"You heard the man," Wally said tapping Ace on the head. "To the secret room!"

"You did not just do that."

"Whatever dude let's go."

It took them a few minutes to get to the room Dick had been talking about earlier. It was on the top floor of the manor all the way on the east wing. To the outside it looked like a rather small space but Dick knew from experience that there was more that met the eyes with it.

Handing Ace over to Wally, Dick crouched down and picked the lock knowing that Bruce wouldn't have had too much security on it. Nobody would have gotten past the second floor let alone through the front door without him knowing about it.

The resounding click of the lock opening signified that they were that much closer to their prize. Standing back up Dick slipped the lock pick back into his jeans pocket before taking a hold of the handle and opening the door. No sense in some dramatic cheesy pause before the hero enters a new and mysterious place never before viewed by anyone _but_ the head of the household.

No never that.

Pushing the door open Dick's hand dropped from the handle back to his sides. "What is all of this?"

Will we ever see Batman crack a smile? Will we ever find out what's in the lead lined box? Will Superman ever stop being a flipping pansy? What has our little bat seen in the room? Stay tuned to find out.

Next time on Dragon Ball Z! XD. Miss that show.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Do not own Young justice or the Justice League. They are property of DC Comics and their respective creators/writers.

Note: There is slight John Green Lantern bashing. Not much. My like for him is more than Superman and Wonder Woman and I am for the Black Superhero Cause (BSC) but he irks me from time to time.

Chapter 4

Dick and Wally entered the room stopping just shy of the door frame. The room was relatively empty except for a few medium sized boxes pushed to the far wall under the circular window. The light emitted from the moon gave the light bulb-less room an eerie look to it, something that Dick was used to, living in the manor for four years. Wally and Ace, however, were not.

"It's okay boy," Dick said scratching the puppy behind the ears to ease his worry.

"We're right here if you need us." Wally added bouncing Ace as if comforting a small child.

"I was talking about you," Dick cackled. It grew in volume when he saw his best friend's face.

"Dude, you are just asking for it." Wally followed his friend into the room noticing that with each step they had been kicking up a very thick layer of dust. "I'm going to recommend that Alfred go back to butler school or get his own apprentice. When was the last time this room was even cleaned?

Placing Ace down on the ground the puppy grew curious as to what exactly he was stepping on. It was hard and yet soft at the same time, but unlike the other rooms this substance stuck to his paws and fur. He was NOT liking it one bit. Running back to Wally who had entered farther into the room Ace jumped onto his pants legs wiping the dust off onto his jeans.

"And you turn the dog against me," Wally exclaimed looking down at his now dust covered pants. "I'm going to find the biggest spider web and stuff you and your mini master in it."

Yipping playfully Wally crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, you think I'm joking."

"Yo, Kid Dog Whisperer. Get over here."

Rolling his eyes Wally walked over to his best friend. "Coming _hon_."

"Shut it _Sweetie_."

Chuckling Wally stooped down over the box Dick was hovering over and peered down at it. There wasn't any name marking on it like normal boxes signifying what was in it. "So, are you going to open it or are you hoping to gain x-ray vision and stare at it all day?"

"I was actually hoping that the rate at which you talk could somehow create a strong enough wind to rip it open."

"Hm, and here I was thinking that you were going to just slip in between the tape and-"

"Ace!"

The young Doberman had grown tired of the anticipation and tore at it himself with his claws. It wasn't doing much damage with so little to work with, but it got the humans to stop bickering back and forth.

"Alright, alright, alright, sheesh." Taking out a bird-a-rang, Wally didn't even want to know where he was keeping it, he watched as Dick cut the tape off the closest box to them. Blue eyes caught green in a silent agreement before the youngest of the two peeled back the folds. What was inside almost brought tears to the dark haired boy's eyes.

Staring him in the face was some of his old circus things, from his old uniform, to pictures, and posters. Even some of the tickets from the shows in different states! Shuffling through some of the things Dick picked up the uniform first realizing just how, ever so slightly, his Robin uniform had taken on the flying Grayson suit. Placing that down on the next closest box he picked up a poster of the circus with Jack Haly in front of the circus.

"Hey man what's this?" Robin looked, snapping out of his thoughts to see his red headed friend standing in front of him. He held in his hand a black and white photo of a man and woman standing underneath a tree and smiling. From the looks it was a windy day, the woman holding her long dark hair out of her face a single rose flower in her other hand. The male was holding her close to him looking solely at her completely ignoring the camera.

Taking the picture Dick looked at it for a few moments as if lost in thought, sitting absentmindedly down on the floor. Wally noticing this sat down next to his best friend waiting patiently for him to speak. A few minutes past in the span of time in which to Wally felt like hours, but for his brother in name, he could deal.

"I thought I lost this picture when I left."

"So this is a picture of your parents?"

"Yeah."

They lapsed into silence again this time a little less depressing in Wally's case as he moved a bit closer to his best friend, shoulders touching. He knew that was all of his acrobatic brother needed to know that he wasn't alone. Looking at it longer Wally could tell the resemblance. Robin had his father's facial structure for sure, but from what Wally could see from the black and white photo he clearly had his mother's eyes. He could even say that about his little bro's smile. The kid definitely got it from his mother's side. "She's beautiful."

Knowing that his overly hormonal friend wasn't trying to hit on his mother with that statement he shot him a smile. So many memories had surfaced from just looking around at his old things, but the picture had taken the cake.

He remembered his father telling him that it had been taken just a week before he had proposed to his mother. Of course she had said yes. They had been in the circus with each other for about two years before hand, meeting at a show in Mongolia. He still hadn't heard the story of why his mother was there in the first place. At this point he probably would never know.

"Dude lets' see what else is in the box."

Wally didn't want his friend to wallow too much in his sadness and from the looks of it neither did Ace. The puppy had taken to dancing on his hind legs to cheer up the mini bat gaining a smile and a light chuckle. It was a start. He knew how much the raven haired teen loved and missed his parents, but he never wanted to see him sad for long either.

Sticking the picture in the inside of his jacket Robin stood up and followed Wally to the other box Ace at his heels. He was kind of apprehensive about what else he'd find but at the same time wondering why Batman never told him about this in the first place. What else was he hiding form him?

The watchtower was silent, Hawk Man sitting up at the monitors on watch duty. It was a boring day, and an even more boring job, but he would rather be doing that then sitting in a room with the other Leaguers at this point. Don't get the man wrong he liked the people, for the most part, but staying in a little room with only one exit for too long. Someone was bond to say something to piss someone off. Especially with the way things were a buzz the last few days. No. He'd learn whatever was so important later.

"Wow he's late." Hawk Man watched as a shadow passed by one of the cameras to the makeshift meeting room. "That's a first." Leaning back he closed his eyes, folded his arms over his lap and waited. Things would be getting more interesting in the next few hours.

"Can we just get this over with?" John asked looking around the room at Wonder Woman and Superman. Seeing as Batman wasn't in the room yet and he was the one who called the meeting then these two were the next ones to talk to. Obviously not even Martian Manhunter, Hal, or Captain Atom knew what was going on since they hadn't been there the first meeting.

"Just be patient GL," the Scarlet Speedster said calmly. He was leant up against the wall farthest from the entrance. "It's the Bat's he'll-"

"Exactly my point," John cut off the younger male. "He expects us to be on time and abide by the League rules, but the guy is hardly ever here nor does he show up on time when he's the one who called us all here."

"I can contact him and see when it is he will be here," J'onn spoke up for the first time since entering the room.

"Maybe the Bat Shuttle ran out of fuel."

Before John could say anything about the Scarlet Speedsters comment Wonder Woman spoke up. "Batman is an integral part of the team which without him, there would be no Justice League." The Flash was about to voice his opinion on the matter, but a warning look from GA told him to just let it go. "We will wait."

"And if you felt it was that important you could have very well had Superman let you open it already." The only people who didn't jump at the sudden appearance of the Dark Knight were Superman, Flash, J'onn and Wonder Woman. Green Arrow for the most part flinched only a little growing more and more used to the man popping out from seemingly no-where.

Flash raised a brow at the Dark Knight. The guy always had to make some form of entrance. Whether it be from the shadows or from the ceiling…but it was his late door entrances that always had the most impact. It was just so...normal.

"Or maybe you should come on time."

Not saying anything for or against his cause he just sent a bat glare towards the second Green Lantern before taking the box from Superman and placing it on the table in the middle of the room.

"What is it?" Hal asked eyeing the item. It was no bigger than a 3x5 photo, no thicker than a box of envelopes. The box was black, probably metal by the way it gleamed under the light. It was locked by a clasp and key, something that would be easy to pick with his or John's ring no problem.

"That's what I called you here to find out," Batman said.

"If Superman already told you, the item was found by Rokuro, the Crimson Avenger's body guard," Batman had to elaborate due to some of the confused faces, "in Star City and passed off to Red Arrow to give to us. We, nor he for that matter, know what's inside." Stopping in front of the table Batman looked from one League member to the other before continuing.

"Due to the nature in which it was found we need to take extra precaution in order to find out what is inside."

"So it needs to be in the other room just in case I'm guessing." At the moment they were in the viewing room, a table in the middle with a glass window to an adjacent room. On the same wall was a metal door, the entire side of that room done in 6foot thick concrete, industrial strength glass.

The look from the Batman was all Flash needed to know that he was right on the money. Shrugging his shoulders he zipped over to the table, picked up the box, zipped it over to the other room, placed it on the table there, and then ran back to the observing room.

"Forgot to-"

"There." Flash didn't give Superman the chance to finish his statement. In mid-sentence the Scarlet Speedster ran to the door, closed it and ran back to his spot a smug look, even for him, on his face.

"It does not seem to hold any entity within it," Martian Manhunter said turning to Bruce. "Perhaps we should have Hal or John open it now and see. If it truly is a threat we should be more than enough to handle it."

"Sounds like my type of plan," Green Arrow said clasping both Green Lanterns on the back twice. "Get it cracking."

Hal had smirked at GA's comment but John…Someone needed a hug and depending on how he kept acting, it would be around his neck…But not by him of course. Green Arrow didn't do that type of thing. Usually.

Stepping back to let both GL's do their work the rest of the League watched as the two men stepped closer to the viewing window to get a closer look at what to do. Nodding to John, Hal extended the powers of his ring into the room surrounding the box completely. Keeping it rooted he patiently waited for John to surround his field with a dome like field just in case. If it was somehow rigged to explode on opening they would know.

"So far so good right?"

"Ready when you are."

Nodding again Hal counted down from three before both males braced themselves. The lock was picked within seconds and the clasp came up. Now the top just needed to be flipped up and they would know what was inside the box.

"Three…two…one." The box top was lifted and what they witnessed surprised them all to say the least.

"It's…"

"It's a gun," John said glaring at the item in the other room. "That kid made a big deal over a gun? Is he playing with us?" He turned to Hal who only shrugged his shoulders. He only helped contain the would be threat not the one who put it in a lead lined box.

Batman ignored the Earth's second Green Lantern in favor for directing his attention to Captain Atom. "Radioactive?"

"No…Just a regular revolver." Stepping closer to the glass next to Hal, Captain Atom studied the gun closely. "From the looks of it, a 1955 double action Colt Python. 2.5 inches, .375 magnum cartridge, six round cylinder…but"

"What's the matter?" Superman asked catching the face Atom was making.

Taking a moment to answer he turned to the Man of Steel before turning back to the gun. "The markings on the revolver. It looks like whoever this gun belonged to had it custom made. I don't even think this has ever seen action let alone even been placed near a bullet."

The barrel of the gun was as black as onyx, gleaming beautifully in the light. The sight had what appeared to be rose petals engraved in silver running up to the handle which was a deep red. Jade dragons had been placed on the edge, a head on its butt.

"Yea you're right," John commented. Both he and Captain Atom were the most familiar with guns. Being in the Marines he had seen and used all kinds. He was surprised that his counterpart from the Air Force recognized the gun faster than he did. _Those guys hardly saw any action. Damn eggheads_.[1]

"I want a full report on the gun by the time I get back."

"We all know that you'll just do it again when you get back." The Flash took a step back behind Green Arrow throwing his hands in the air at the Bat-glare sent his way. He would give credit to the man. It seemed that since their last talk he had in fact been working on it.

For a few seconds the billowing of a cape and a door closing were the only things that were heard throughout the room.

"You know," Green Arrow said turning his head to the Scarlet Speedster still standing behind him. "I'm glad it was you who said it."

"Yep," the Flash beamed before running to the door. Turning to the other Leaguers he told them bye, and gave them all a wave before leaving.

"One of these days I'm going to get that kid to do some actual work around here."

Speeding down the hall to the Zeta beams the Flash couldn't stop thinking of what had gone down in the room just seconds before. The Fastest man alive wasn't called that for a reason. Certainly not the first person, maybe, to figure Batman leaving any room first after finding something like that was odd the micro expression he had was. In just a split second Barry swore he saw surprise on the older hero's face. He knew something and he **was** going to spill.

It took literally five seconds for Flash to spot the Bat and 0.04 seconds to catch up to him stopping just to his left.

"So you going to tell anyone what you're up to this time or do I have to tag along?"

"Didn't I give you a job?"

"You never specified any names."

_There's that glare again_. Suppressing a shudder Barry smiled at the Dark Knight draping an arm around his shoulder. "Details, details. Besides Captain Atom and Martian Manhunter are there. But in all seriousness," Barry dropped the smile turning to fully face the Caped Crusader. "You've seen the gun before."

It wasn't a question but an accusation and one coming from the Scarlet Speedster could not be taken lightly. "Something very similar to it yes."

Letting it drop, for now, Flash allowed Batman to continue walking keeping in stride with the male.

"And so you are going to talk to Rokuro."

"I'm only going to drop by."

"And possibly scare the crap out of the kid. You're not doing this by yourself doom and gloom. What?" Flash rose and eyebrow at Batman's look. "I don't want Crimson coming down on me because you made his body guard cry. I'm pretty sure Green Arrow would feel the same way."

"Do not hold me back."

That was all Flash needed to know that the man had yielded for now. _This is going to be a loooong night for certain._ He wondered, as he left with Batman, how the kids were doing. The league members clowned on him all the time on how he mothered his nephew to death, but seriously who wouldn't knowing the kid? Scratch that he knew _who,_ but they were a different case all together…A **huge** case he was still working on. Switching his thoughts before his mind went down **that** road he turned to Bruce. No doubt daddy bat was thinking about Robin. _The big softy._

What else will our Little Bird find in the room of boxes? Will Batman and Flash be able to find and have a _chat_ with the Crimson Avenger and Rokuro? Will the League find out what the mysterious gun is about?

Stay tuned to find out.

[1] As the proud daughter of a retired Air Force Sgt I had to throw this in there. I have love for all the branches of the military and know how each has some form of bias against the other. John being in the Army would have his opinions about someone in the Air Force it's just the nature of things. I am aware that not all people think that way and kudos to you.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Disclaimer- I do not nor have I ever owned Young Justice…sigh…**

**Note: Contains Bat glares and threats against the Batman. Dun dun duuuuuuun! Flashback sequence involved. **

Thank you for the reviews! XD

**Timexgone23**- I gotta agree with you chicky. The Three Musketeers have always been my favorite when it came to DC. XD. You should shoot my a line and let me know where you think it's going...Wanna see how close you get to the truth. lol. This chapter should give you even more of a hint as to where but not much. I like delving in to their story behind the mask seeing as the show doesn't give you much to go from, even with knowing about their backgrounds before hand. Oh and special thanks for finding those flip-flops lol. Now...about those scissors?...

**XXXHells Angel of deathXXX-**Love the name! and thank you! Robin will definitely be affected by what's going on in this story but he won't be the only one. ;P.

**Dextra2-** Thank you. lol. Feel it's a bit cheesy but then again so were the action films and the Batman series with Adam West. lol. Had to throw those in there and I absolutely LOVE and miss DBZ. Don't know if you watched it but MAN! lol. ::sigh:: I feel old. lol.

**CalicoCat13**- Thank you! I'm updating as fast as I can. lol. XD. But seriously thank you! XD.

** MoxieRox96-**I still laugh at your review lol and know exactly what you mean. Love Roy, Wally, and Dick's friend-broship thing they have going on. for the most part the story will center around the three of them but I will be throwing in the others and their stories as well. There will be more calling out of Clark and Diana...-.-...glad we're on the same page with that one. XD

And now back to our original programming.

**Tuesday Night**

The Dark Knight and Scarlet Speedster found themselves in the heart of the City's downtown area. Walking out of the Zeta booth both males took to the nearest skyscraper, both in their own fashion. To not cause too much alarm to himself, the Flash chose to run up the outside of the building. The last time he ran up a buildings stairs he got distracted by an older woman walking her dog down the flight…Not doing that again anytime soon. Ollie still wouldn't shut up about it.

"So where do we look first? He's not like you, comes with the flash of a bat signal."

"No." Batman went to the edge of the building looking towards the darker part of the downtown area. Batnoculars in hand he stood, the picture of a statue, scoping out longer distances. What the male was looking for Flash could only guess. There weren't many people walking around at this time of night in a place that was normally a buzz with people. It kind of reminded the Speedster of Gotham except less doom and gloom.

He'd made to mention that only once to the prince of darkness months before to be silenced with one of the fiercest glares the male had to offer. No point in making note of it now, especially while standing on a 35 story building. Crimson was not his color.

"There," Batman said, his voice breaking through Flash's silent musings.

"Well that didn't take long." Either Batman was by far the best detective in the universe to catch a male that hardly anybody came into contact with…In just a few minutes, or the people in this city all needed glasses.

Looking down all the male could see were a few cars on the street, a woman walking her dog, and a motorcyclist. Yea...Maybe he needed glasses.

As if catching the other males dilemma Batman pointed the vehicle out. It was headed in the opposite direction from all of the other vehicles into the darker part of downtown. Yep, that was definitely him. "Black acura, dark red roof, red tints and lights." Not the batmobile, but it was nice.

"On it," Flash was off of the building and running down the street in two shakes of a lamb's tail. Catching up to the car at the corner of one street the male ran ahead of it only to stop dead in the middle of the street.

Screeching to a halt the car stopped a few feet in front of the Scarlet Speedster. A woosh and a shadow let the male know that the Dark Knight had showed up stopping down just out of the street lamps light. Resisting the urge to role his eyes Flash waited patiently, even for him, for the male to get out his car, or run him over, whichever came first.

Soon enough the car door opened and out stepped a single figure, lights still on, car still running. Clearly he wasn't shy of blocking would be traffic in the area.

"Crimson." Batman morphed out of the shadows standing just enough into the light to be seen but if need be disappear back into the unknown.

"It's been a while Batman."

"We need to speak with you about League matters."

Chuckling the Crimson Avenger shook his head. "Ever the one to cut to the chase." Turning to the red spandex clad male it took Crimson all of two seconds to register him as the Scarlet Speedster. If the Lightning bolt on his chest was anything to go by. "Flash I presume. Nice to meet you."

Closing his car door Crimson walked over to both males extending his hand to the Flash. Taking the man's hand Flash couldn't help but to think he'd actually get along with the guy.

"Like-wise."

"Back to matters at hand, we need to speak with your partner. He retrieved an item from a gang of yours and gave it to one of our members."

"And this item would be?"

Reaching into his belt Batman took out a 3x5 photo of the revolver and handed it to Crimson.

_How did he manage to_- Shaking his head Flash decided to drop it. This was the _Batman_ he was talking about. He decided on studying the Crimson Avenger instead. The guy was about his height, medium build and if he could guess accurately, around 47 maybe at the most 50 years old. The Fedora and mask covered much of his features, but it wasn't too hard to notice the wrinkles forming around his mouth and the brown hairs peppered in with the gray. Besides the red fedora the male wore an overcoat, crimson, over a black suit, black gloves and shoes. Being a criminalist for so long Barry was able to pick up the subtle bulge at his right hip, no doubt where he kept his gas gun.

Taking the photo the Crimson Avenger studied it for a while allowing Batman the time to observe his reaction. If he knew anything the male wasn't showing it his face set in complete stone. Batman hadn't met many people who could keep a good poker face. He was going to have to keep a closer eye on the detective.

"You say Rokuro found this?" Handing the Dark Knight back the photo, Batman took it and tucked it back into his belt.

"Without much detail he handed over a black metal box not knowing what was inside."

"Why not go to him directly?"

"He is _your_ partner."

"That does not mean we always take cases together Batman." Sticking one hand in his pocket Crimson Avenger pulled out a golden lighter and began to flick the top on and off. "He's a smart young man, doesn't need to be underfoot all the time. I'm letting him see this one start to finish solo. As it is, I do not need him right now."

Taking in the information and logging it for later Batman glanced at the Flash who had remained silent throughout the discussion. He didn't know whether to be happy or worried. A quiet Speedster was always something anyone noticed. It just wasn't normal. He would take the quiet for now, no need to ruin it by bringing it up.

"We will need to speak with him, the League and I."

"With the exception of you two," Crimson said nodding his head to Flash while keeping his gaze with Batman, "Hal Gordon and Green Arrow, your League members do not take kindly to my partner and me. Why can it not just be you two who talk with him and relay the message?"

"_They_ need to hear what he has to say for themselves."

"And judge him whether he speak or not." To this neither Justice League members said anything giving Crimson Avenger the time to think. Sticking the lighter back into his pocket he took a slow deep breath to calm himself before speaking once again.

"If any harm comes to him Batman." The Crimson Avenger left the sentence open for interpretation locking eyes with the Dark Knight. Not many people talked to the Prince of Darkness like that and lived to tell about it, but he still stood thirty seconds after speaking.

"You don't need to worry Crimson," Flash said to reassure the man. "We will watch over your boy."

Sighing Crimson removed his hat before running his hands through his peppered hair and returning it to his head. "He can have a short fuse. I would rather him be railed in before someone baits him."

"Noted."

Knowing he wouldn't get anything else out of the man Crimson stuffed his hand into his coat once more before retracting it, slowly, a crimson ribbon in his hand. "If I remember he might be at the port again off of Linden. You want his attention without having him on edge you make sure he sees this."

Taking the ribbon Batman turned sharply to walk away, but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"He's a good kid Batman. Remember that."

The pressure left right after that statement and he continued on his walk into the alley, the Flash right next to him. This was going to be a long night.

Dick and Wally sat in the bird's room. It had been thirty minutes since they had ventured off to the room labeled 'off limits' a long time ago by Bruce. They had found a lot of old things in the room, the boxes full of things Dick had thought he left behind with his circus family. In one hand he held the picture Wally had found of his parents, another picture of him, his mother, and father up on the platform of the trapeze sitting on his lap, wooden box in between him and the speedster.

Wally sat next to his best friend rolling a bronze locket back and forth between his hands. No doubt Dick was thinking about what else they had found in the room after the picture and posters. He didn't blame him.

"_Dude, let's see what else is in the box." _

_Waiting for Robin to get up Wally thought about what possibly could be going through his best friend's head. To find all of this after years of thinking it had all been packed away never to be seen again, only to stumble on it in your guardian's home…and not know…yeah, he'd be pretty pissed. Looking down at Ace, who stood wagging his tail slowly back and forth, he nudged him gently with his foot catching the dog's attention. _

"_I know boy, I know."_

_He might not be able to keep an eye on his best friend all day, and for numerous reasons he wouldn't want to, but at least Ace would watch over him when he couldn't. _Him and the team_… _

_Getting into the swing of things Wally made his way over to the next box with Dick both stooping down in front of it. Like the other there was no name or description of what was inside. They could only assume, however, that it contained more things that belonged to the little bird, more memories. _

_Opening the box Dick and Wally became perplexed when they came face to face with another slightly smaller box. Giving each other a sideways glance they opened that box to come yet again to another box._

"_I'm thinking your family stopped at Russia at some point didn't they?"_

"_Gotta love those matryoshka dolls."_

"_If there's another box dude, I'm going to scream," the redhead told his friend as they ripped the tape off of the third box. "Oh look another box…Didn't see that coming," the redhead deadpanned rubbing his forehead with his left hand._

_Chuckling despite both their annoyance at the situation Dick turned to his best friend. "Should I cover my ears now or later?"_

"_Later."_

_Going back to the box they once again ripped it off before finally coming to the prize inside. Pulling it out the boys came face to face with an old, extremely elaborate wooden box. The wood was old and worn, turning a greyish brown in some areas, the natural color faded completely. Carved into the top were a series of rose vines, petals dropping from the flowers. An old chariot styled wheel sat in the center. An Asian styled lion was carved onto the left side of the wooden box, its left paw resting on what seemed to be a cub. On the right side was the same lion, this one's foot however resting on a globe. Both were surrounded by rose petals swirling around them. _

_Nothing on the back or the bottom, but the front was something else. A simple styled metal lock sat in the middle of the box. Doubting there was a key Robin was pretty sure he could pick it open in less than ten seconds. What caught the bird's eye, however, were the words carved into the front just below the lock. They weren't in any language that he could readily identify, even worse it was written in a cursive script. _

_Glancing to Wally he could tell the red-head was just as puzzled about the whole box in general as he was._

"_What do you think is in it?" Wally asked being the first to break the silence that had enveloped them. He had placed his hand on his younger brother's shoulder for support as the teen turned the object round and round. _

"_I don't know," came the simple reply. Like any person attempting to find out what was inside a box without opening it, Dick shook the box holding it close to his ear. He heard nothing but the sound of papers shifting. Another good shake and he heard a resounding thump, of a heavier object knocking into the wood._

_Closing the cardboard boxes up Dick sat the wooden one on the top before extracting his lock pick. Setting to work he grew frustrated after not hearing the normal tell-tale click that sounded when his work was finished. This was the first time in a long time that he had failed to pick a lock…Maybe it was broken. _

_Taking a closer look at the box Dick turned it over in his hands a few times seeing that it did in fact have a slit running along the middle of it and old metal hinges on the back. Obviously it opened somehow and there was no way he was going to break it open like a piggy bank. Setting it back down he turned to Wally about to speak when they both heard a sharp thud on the ground. _

_Wood hitting somewhat padded wood and an animal whimper. _

_The box had fallen to the floor part of the front piece falling off. Whipping his head towards the four legged member of the room who looked rather guilty at the moment Dick glowered down at Ace. In his rising anger at the dog he didn't notice a single object fall out of the space created by the displaced wood. Bending down Wally picked up the object, green eyes widening when he noticed what it was. _

"_Ace!" Seconds from scolding the Doberman pincher Dick stopped when he felt a tentative hand on his shoulder. "What?"_

_Instead of saying anything Wally held out his hand. In the gingers palm was a bronze locket, the size of a silver dollar, rose petals, just like those on the wooden box, adorning the front. A single black opal sat in the middle catching the gleam of the moon. There was no chain with the locket just the locket itself. _

_While Dick studied the locket Wally set to picking up the box and its piece, petting Ace on the head. "You did alright boy, just next time…do it a little less destructive alright." A lick to his hand was the reply. Peering into the hole created by the chipped piece just to make sure there was nothing else in it Wally came across something else. _

_Reaching into the cubby Wally pulled out an old and very worn out book, its pages held together by a black ribbon. Flipping it over he could see cursive Chinese characters, they were extremely faint but readable, if he could read them that was. _

_Checking the box again it seemed that the area was actually a little drawer, noting that there was still wood separating the rest of the box's contents. The wood that broke off itself had a small hole in the front that could have easily been for the knob. _Smart dog_, Wally thought before fitting the pieces back together in the meantime. _

"_You part Chinese by any chance?"_

_Looking away from the locket to his friend Dick looked to the book that he held in his hand and back, a small smirk gracing his features. "Not that I know of, but at this point…I might as well be."_

"_There was a book in the compartment as well."_

"_No kidding Kid Sherlock."_

"_You know what Boy Watson."_

"_What?"_

"_Shut up."_

_Rolling his eyes Dick looked back down at the locket, his blue eyes glazing over in thought. _

"_Hey."_

_Wally's voice brought Dick back out of his thoughts. "What's your problem?"_

"_Excuse me?"_

"_I'm your best friend right?"_

"_Yea."_

"_Your brother in name?"_

"_Yeah?" Dick's response now was a little apprehensive not knowing where the red-head was going with this._

"_Then stop acting like an idiot." Taken aback slightly, it was the first time he had heard Wally sound agitated, well at least directed at him. It was normal for the green eyed male to get pissed with Roy, they all did from time to time but this was new. _

"_Whatever you are thinking you can share with me, I'm sure even Roy if you want to, which you should. You're not alone Richie."_

_Dick shook his head at the older male's words, ignoring that he had called him Richie. He only did that when Dick really needed to listen to what the ginger was saying. Just a few weeks ago he had said the same exact thing to Wally when he had found out how bad his family situation was escalating. _

_Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly Dick nodded his head. "You're right it's just that…Why didn't he tell me about any of this?" _

"_You know, why is a question that can make you go crazy."_

"_Thanks Kid Confucius."_

"_Any time Boy Grasshopper." Sobering up Wally walked closer to his friend and gave him a bro hug. "We'll get to the bottom of all of this. Together." _

_Leaning into the hug Dick sighed knowing that his friend was right. He wasn't going to stop being even the slightest bit angry at Bruce over the male not telling him about all of this, but Wally wasn't asking him to. Just that if he chose to, he and Roy would be there every step of the way. And he would. _

_Stepping back Dick looked around the room. There were two more boxes that needed to be riffled through. They could either go through them now or wait till the next time Wally spent the night. Knowing that the anticipation would drive him up the ceiling he placed the items back into the box and headed over to one of the unopened ones. He had to know what else Bruce was keeping from him. What else he could find out about his family. _

"This just opens up a whole new door," Dick said looking up from the picture.

Wally wasn't going to admit that hearing the black haired male was good. The silence was slowly killing him, but he didn't want to be the first to say anything. Dick needed at least some time to think to himself about all of this and he was going to let him. He just better speak to him about what was going on in that head of his.

Picking up the book Dick skimmed through the pages all of which held characters he could recognize, unlike the ones on the box, but not read. "What if this belonged to someone who knew my parents? I mean I could always ask Jack, but he only knew them for seven years. They had to be doing something before all of this."

"You said that your mom was in Mongolia when your parents met. Maybe you could start from there." Receiving a look from the mini bat Wally rolled his eyes. "I mean you can do that computer stuff you always do. Besides…" Taking the book and photo from Dick the redhead pointed to the characters. "Doesn't Google have a translator?"

"You need to have the characters."

"….So download a package."

"Sometimes you are smart."

"Hello, dude, I'm three years older than you. Not to mention I did give myself superspeed. "

"All that says about you and the Flashes are that you are all very electromagnetic."

Smirking Wally nudged his younger friend. "I'm a hot rod."

"Dude…**Shut up**."

So there you have it. Not what I originally had planned for the chapter but I like writing scenes with Dick and Wally and Batman and the Flash are pretty fun to write in the same scenes as well. Go figure. Crimson threatened Batman? And he's still walking? Gasp…To his credit Batman's not going to beat down a 50::mumbles the rest of his age:: year old man…that's just wrong. Anyone else seeing a pattern here with the items being found? If not take your time…You'll get there. XD

Back to our original Programming

Will Dick ever find out why Batman kept all of this information from him? Will Flash and Batman find Rokuro? Will the male even want to talk to the league, what are his true motives? Will Superman stop being a bag-douche (although he's gotten somewhat better in the show?#Istilldon'tlikehim) Stay tuned to find out.

On the next Episode of Dragon Ball Z!

The Young Justice Team gets a new teammate! XD


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer- I do not nor have I ever owned Young Justice…sigh…**

**A certain someone,,cough cough cough, Timexgone23…cough cough, needs to go back to writing that Pirates story, cough cough cachew. Man I gotta get rid of that cold. **

**Now**

**Alex Skywalker- Thank you and I completely agree. Insert ego here. Lol. Nice to hear you like my story. I will be updating more regularly. **

**Dextra2-Here ya go! XD. **

Chapter 6

**Wednesday**

_Why is the clock Going. So. SLOW! _

Wally sat in his third period class staring at the clock willing it to go faster. He had actually made it to his first period class on time, minus the fact that he was almost late. Almost in that he literally made it into his class when the last bell rang. No hall sweeps for him today.

And now it was third period English, right before his lunch break and his teacher was a complete drone. Maybe if he had the same one from freshman year it wouldn't be so bad. Sure he thought the guy was an ex-con on first sight but he knew how to run an English class. The teacher he had now for one would not stop calling them kiddies…Hello! They were in tenth grade. TENTH freaking GRADE! He stopped being a kiddy in like…Kindergarten for Pete's sake. [1]

Two, he was sure she had it out for him. He was the only red-head in class and the only one she gave problems to. Okay so maybe it was the fact that he wasn't at the moment paying attention but he had read the book in like ten seconds. Crime and Punishment…Enough said within the title. There was nothing better, however, than putting a teacher to shame when they thought you weren't paying attention but you get the answer right…Yea, the list could just keep piling up.

So there he was not paying attention in the back of his class when he felt his pants pocket vibrate. Taking the chance he slipped it out and, keeping it underneath the table read the text. Of course it was from Dick. Silently thanking his younger friend for the save he opened the message to receive a picture of Dick holding a chocolate ice cream cone.

That little troll was so going to pay. It was bad enough he had to miss the beach because of the time difference but this…This was just inhumane torcher.

Texting the male back a middle finger and a few expletives he placed the phone on his knee and looked back at his book. The same book that sat open on his desk on page 45…They were more than likely on like…89 by now…Yea.

Thinking about it he could place one reason for why he couldn't pay attention in class, at least today. They had been promised a surprise by Black Canary the other day after practice. She had been tight lipped on any other information about it other than they wouldn't be getting the day off of training. That was fine by him seeing as he finally got to have his re-match with Artemis. She had given him a run of his money the last time pulling out with a move he was sure he'd never seen her use before.

On top of that he couldn't stop thinking about what Rob had found the other day. Obviously from being trolled by the little hobbit, he was going to thank Roy later for the convenient nickname, he knew he was feeling a little bit better. The mini bat had went from being upset that Bruce had kept things from him to downright angry in the matter of hours. He was glad that the Dark Knight was out on patrol or he was sure he'd be sporting at least a black eye by now. Wally stopped himself from reaching up to rub his upper arm where he'd been hit by the acrobat. Yep…Still hurt.

Dick had been extremely apologetic afterwards but Wally being Wally had shrugged it off. He knew Dick hadn't meant to and besides, if you couldn't punch your best friend in the arm to release stress, then who could you punch? Besides it's not like he wasn't used to it by now. Okay that sounded really morbid, even for him.

Returning his thoughts elsewhere he was glad that Robin had agreed to tell Roy. Shy of the older male being like their older brother to the both of them, if he found out either one of them were keeping something from him, there'd be hell to pay. He'd learned that lesson when he told them about his family situation…after showing up to the cave with a black eye and split lip. Yea that didn't go so well. He was just glad at that time it was just Rob at the cave and no one else. The mini bat had called Roy over. He did not want to revisit that talk.

Feeling his phone vibrate again Wally chanced another glance at it.

-You need to get a better vocabulary kid potty-mouth-

-Better than butchering the English language Boy Seuss-

-Stop hatin Kid-Hater-

_Oh that probably took a lot of brain power to think about_. He was definitely off his game for saying that.

-How about you stuff it Boy Hotpants-

-….-_-…Low blow man…low blow-

Wally had to suppress a laugh turning it into a cough. On first meeting Rob the younger vigilante had been wearing a pair of green shorts. It wasn't the color that had the older male rolling but the fact that they came mid-thigh on the younger male. He would never let him live that down even with the costume change that only happened two years ago.

-So…U plan on telling Roy today?-

-Friday. Still need to wrap my head around things-

-Hear ya. Just as long as you tell him-

Wally wanted to ask how him and Bruce were getting along, the older male not knowing, he was assuming he didn't know because he hadn't been banned from the cave as of yet, that they had went through the room. Not wanting to bust his best friends happy bubble at the moment he let it slide, for now. There were other times to bring that up and now just wasn't that time.

"MR. WEST!"

_Oh shoot_. "Yes ma'am?"

"Care to pick up where James left off."

"Uh…Sure." Glancing at his friend he was glad to have picked up on the male tapping out the page number on his lap, out of the teachers eye sight of course. Page 89…._What do you know._ Glancing at the clock while turning the pages Wally couldn't help but inwardly sigh. It was going to be a long day.

BreakBreakBreak

"Again."

Black Canary's voice accompanied by the whistle let both teens know that the match was back on. At this point it was truly anyone's gain as both matches had been drawn into a tie. Wally and Artemis refused to let the other beat them for fear of having the other gloat till their next match, and who knew when that would be.

Wally really at this point wanted to use his superspeed and end the fight as quickly as possible. He had almost slipped three times already in dodging from the Blonde archer getting caught off guard by her on more than one occasion. Really he had no problem fighting females, especially ones like Artemis. She could kill him in her sleep if she wanted to that he was sure of but he still needed to be careful.

Superspeed just didn't apply to his fast feet. If he could run faster than the speed of sound then he was pretty sure punching someone that fast would be deadly for them let alone throwing something at that speed. He had tried it once at his uncles with a football…Let's just say there was now a nice little nook in the large oak tree for a family of birds.

Getting back into the fight, Wally dodged a well placed series of kicks and punches from Artemis as she relentlessly went at him. Finding an opening he grabbed her by the arm and tossed her over his shoulder knowing that she'd land back on her feet. Normally going in for the kill Wally waited this time knowing that she would be completely ready for his 'impulsive' move. As much as he wanted to pick up speed all the time especially when racing his uncle he needed to learn to slow down. It was hard work especially when your thoughts ran a mile a minute.

Blocking Artemis again as she came at him he almost didn't catch her foot too busy into his thoughts. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. _Think hanging around the Manor too much is going to turn me into a brooding speedster._ Shaking his head Wally went back to the matter at hand, sparring with the harpy. Okay maybe she wasn't that bad. They had gotten along relatively well even for them in the last few days although they would still argue from time to time. He could even say he was beginning to trust her.

"Hey Kid Idiot you paying attention?"

Okay scratch that. She will forever and always be a harpy. "Yep beautiful. Just got caught up in how awesome I am." _That should get her off her game a little. Nothing like sparring of the wits._

"That should have only taken you like a fraction of a millisecond."

"Ouch. I'm hurt by the words coming out of that forked tongue mouth of yours."

"It's only fair that you would. Just looking at you Baywatch hurts my eyes. If I didn't know you I'd say you were related to Edward Cullen."

That was all she needed to throw the red headed male off his game managing to sweep his legs right from underneath him. Any time she and the other girls talked about Twilight it was enough to get the guys to leave the room. Wally especially had been offended by the movie. _Real vampires DO NOT SPARKLE! Gah where was Blade when you needed him?_ [2]

"Wouldn't that fit well for you Buffy," Wally shot back hopping up back onto his feet. "Although," he added winking at the blonde. "You can slay me anytime."

"Gah!" Artemis this time had fallen into Wally's ploy swinging wildly at the male trying to knock his head off his shoulders.

Black Canary just shook her head. The pair was always a spectacle to watch when sparring. Unlike the others they never let the fight be contained to just punching and kicking, always turning it into a battle of words. It was good training to keep focused fighting the more, mouthy villains but these two took it to a whole different level.

About to send Artemis flying for the second time that day Wally stopped mid toss when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eyes. Setting a confused but silently thankful Artemis down she too turned to what her red-headed companion was looking at. The sparring match had been interrupted by none other than the Batman walking into the room stopping just at the entrance. It wasn't his presence that halted Artemis and Wally sparring but the female standing next to him that caught theirs, as well as the others, attention.

_So this is what the surprise was_, Wally thought to himself.

"Good afternoon Batman," Kaldur spoke up greeting the senior League member. Robin nodded at his mentor while the others gave him their own personal greetings. Each of them held questioning gazes, neither one willing to really ask the question that sat at the tips of their tongues. Batman would speak soon enough to them.

Wally still in his high from the adrenaline rush of fighting spoke out feeling that the Batman was taking too long to speak. "So…Who's she?"

"She has a name," the female bit back with a role of her neck, hand on her hip.

Artemis snickered at Kid Flash's facial expression, the male looking equally puzzled and slightly put off. Not one to dwell too much on one matter for too long he smirked at the unnamed female before opening his mouth once again.

"Well please do pardon my rudeness," Wally mock bowed to her. "May I ask your name."

"The names Rocket, Flash Kid." Rocket smirked knowing that Kid Flash hated to be called out of his name.

Instead of his usual groan and outbust of why people could never get his name right Wally chuckled and turned to Robin who was by now trying to keep his composure. "Can we keep her?"

"Be serious." Batman's voice was enough to sober everyone in the room. Back's straight and standing to attention all the teens shut their mouths and looked to Batman waiting for him to speak.

Sending a quick glare to the redhead who had the smarts to at least look sheepish he spoke out to the teens. "You have a new teammate," His monotone voice resounding around the room bouncing off of the metal walls. "Get along."

_As if he needs to tell us that_, Robin thought rolling his eyes from behind his glasses. Studying the female he could see that she was fifteen maybe sixteen years old. She was African American adding two, if you could call their Atlantean leader that to the team. She was all smiles, despite the bite she had when it came to speaking, wearing blue jeans and a pastel blue shirt. Her hair was done in a short style revealing multiple piercings in both her ears. Yep, she had attitude written all over her.

The billowing of Batman's cape signaled that the Dark Knight was leaving the room, in turn leaving the seven members of Young Justice to bond with their eighth and newest member.

Raquel looked around the room smiling at each of her new teammates. "So…What's up?"

BreakBreakBreak

"Okay so let me see if I can get this right," Raquel said to M'gann sitting next to the Martian in the living room. It had only been two hours since Rocket had joined the team and already the female population had hit it off talking about topics from powers to fighting techniques and Artemis's least favorite…boys.

"You and the Boy of Steel are dating, you," she turned to Zatanna, have a crush on the Boy Wonder, and you," she looked to Artemis, "like the Fastest Kid Alive." Before Zatanna could correct (lie to) the short haired female and Artemis could haughtily protest (deny) Rocket's claim the female turned back to M'gann. "Any possibility Aqualad isn't seeing anyone…yet?"

"He caught your eye that quick?"

Rocket shot a grin at Zatanna before shrugging. "Hey, need I remind you all that you were my idols so I've seen him before now. Besides, the guy is hot!"

This got all the girls into a giggle fit.

"He's got nothing on Conner."

"Please do tell," Rocket said elbowing the green female.

Blushing slightly M'gann bumped her right back. "Not like that, well, we've only kissed but anyway he may act all tough and brooding but in actuality he's-"

"Tough and broody," Zatanna joked.

"He's a sweetheart. You should see the way he acts around Wolf and Sphere."

"I don't know him quite yet but I'll give it to you. But you have got to admit Aqualad must be one smart cookie. Why else would Batman have made him the leader. And have you seen those muscles?"

"Down girl."

Chuckling Artemis picked back up her arrow to finish polishing it. "I'm not too sure I like the Sysco thing he has going on with his hair."

"Is it even natural?"

"It would have to be," Zatanna said looing between the three females. "I mean don't you think all of that sea water would have changed it if it weren't."

"Good point. But you," Artemis said pointing her arrow at Zatanna, "have got to spill on the Boy Wonder. I mean really? He's so immature."

"Well miss negative Nancy," Zatanna giggled out, "he can be extremely sweet and he has a really great heart. When I first met you guys he was the most friendly, not including KF of course," at this they all laughed. "But you know if you get past the fact that he's the Batman's protégé then you can get to actually know him. I mean think about it, he's best friends with Red Arrow and Kid Flash. They all have different personalities and yet can stand each other."

"Red Arrow is a whole different story," Artemis said rolling her eyes. It wasn't that she couldn't stand the older male it was just that she thought he was a jerk, rude, and pig-headed. That and he couldn't just get off of her back….Okay, maybe she couldn't stand him.

"Kid Flash seems cool although he's a bit of a…oh I don't know flirt."

"Yea, he's also annoying, impulsive, a complete idiot, he never stops talking and have you seen the way he eats? He always talks in this scientific geek jargon when we're on missions like the rest of us lived off of Star Trek growing up, naïve and too quick to judge someone."

"Well if I didn't know any better I'd say you two were married." This got Artemis fuming and the other female's laughing again.

"Who's married?"

The laughing died down for all of five seconds allowing Zatanna to breathily reply to the confused red-head. "You and Artemis." That had done it. The look on both male and female's faces were priceless. If Wally were drinking anything at the moment it would have been all over the floor by now. At the moment he had been eating a candy bar, the snack now lying on the ground after he dropped it, mouth hanging open.

Robin, Conner, and Aqualad all looked in between laughing, slight annoyance, and confusion at the scene before them.

"There is no way I'd marry that harpy/ignoramus."

Wally's green eyes bored into Artemis's grey, both angry at the little jibe the other had thrown at them.

"Ignoramus?"

"Harpy?"

"Hey, better than being called a banshee, beautiful."

"And I guess that would be better than being called a complete and utter idiot."

"See we've come to an understanding."

"I'll give you something to understand you-"

"Team to the briefing room, now." Batman's voice over the com system broke through the argument and halted Artemis on anything she was about to say earlier.

"Yes, some action!" Rocket whooped before giving the other members of Young Justice a grin. "What, not to say watching you two," she pointed at Wally and Artemis , "bicker isn't fun but I am sooo bored!"

Changing quickly into their uniforms all eight teens made their way to the briefing room, Batman, Black Canary and Red Tornado already patiently waiting.

"The Tài4yáng2yù4 or Jade Sun group in China has been on the move for the past few weeks moving an unknown drug. We do not know the effects or to where they are going. It will be your job to follow them. Do not engage and do not go near the crates."

Pulling up a picture of three different people Batman went through each one starting with the bottom left picture. This is Kamishiro Kaito, Japanese born, head of security and armory specialist of the Jade Sun. Active for 27 years, no criminal record."

The teens could only guess as to how the older male got his information then.

"This, "Batman said indicating to the male on the right, "is Ueda Dante, Japanese-American, head of intelligence and drug traffic. Active for 26 years he too has no criminal record."

"And this," Black Canary indicated the last of the pictures sitting atop the other two. It was of an Asian woman, short black hair, dark brown eyes, and dark red lipstick. While the pictures of Kaito and Dante were more than likely street shots taken from either actual detectives or the police, hers was a press clipping from a Chinese newspaper.

"Is Cang1 Lei3. Leader of the Jade Sun she's been active for 14 years taking over for her father for the past seven. Ruthless in her actions she has been credited, off the record, for the deaths of 27 different faction leaders ranging from terrorist groups, to gangs and mafia. That's 13 more than her father giving her the nickname of Xun1hu2li of the tai4yang2yu4"

"Going to guess here and say that the tattoo on Kaito's hand is their family symbol?" Rocket spoke up. Eyeing the newest team member Batman turned back to the screen and blew up the spot Rocket was referring to.

It was a circular bud with a little crown at the top, sap seeping out of the middle, a flower with a darker middle sitting behind it. Both overlay the symbol of the sun, Chinese characters running up his pointer finger.

"They originally deal with opium, the characters on his finger mean gunpowder." Returning the picture back to its original size Batman glared at the teens. "During this mission none of you should be close enough to see hide or hair of a tattoo. The 27 men that she took down were all well trained and professional killers. The people she surrounds herself with are just the same. If you see any of these three do not stick around."

Looking from one teen to the other and finally resting his gaze upon his ward he spoke accenting every syllable to hit the point home. "You are to find out where they are going and leave. **Do not** engage with them unless **absolutely** necessary. Stay in stealth."

"Yes sir."

End

Yeaaaaaa…..I've halfway run outta ideas for this one. Lol. Not to fret I'll have it all worked out faster than two shakes of a lambs tail.

[1] My freshman year in high school I legitimately was about to walk out cause the guy looked like an ex-con to the fullest like just got out of doing hard time serious stuff. Lol. But turned out….He really was an ex-con. No j.k. He was the coolest teacher in the world. The female on the other hands sophomore and senior year….not so much. Really did refer to us as kiddies. Looking at her like Lady really?

[2]Marvel reference in a DC world….GASP!

**Translations- **From here on out some things will be in either Chinese, Japanese, and if I can help it Korean and or German.

**Chinese- Translations are going to be done with numbers for the most part, signify tones. Characters are just too confusing. Pretty to look at but yea. Lol. **

tàiyáng yù- Jade Sun

Xun1hu2li-Crimson Fox

**On the next episode of Effects of Black and White**

"Considering that we didn't listen to anything Batman told us," KF said running alongside Robin. "I think we are going to need to bring in someone from the gang in order to not get shoved off of missions for a year."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Do not own Young justice or the Justice League. They are property of DC Comics and their respective creators/writers.

As of now it will be stated that there will be at least two new OC's. Will not be popping up within every chapter. More like once every so often as the story progresses.

Note- There will be words other than English within the text below and in future chapters to follow. I apologize in advance if my translations are off. I've only studied Chinese-Mandarin for like two years, Japanese for a few months as of now.

There is a bit of cursing within this chapter. Nothing too bad. Death within the chapter midway down, do not worry it is not one of the team…or is it? Dun dun duuuuuuun. Lol.

Extra side note: If it feels like I've strayed from the original story line do not fret. Everything will be "Brought to the light." Enjoy!

**And as always thank you for the reviews! XD.**

**Wednesday- Night**

"We will break off into teams," Aqualad said once they were in the Bioship. "Zatanna and Rocket will make team 4. Stay on the Eastern side. Artemis and Superboy, team 3. You both will be posted to the North. Team 2 will be Robin and Kid Flash, you both will cover the Southern wall leaving M'gann and I to cover the Western side. Stealth will be kept up at all times, radio silence and no one is to go off by themselves. Hit the offices and nothing else."

Turning to Robin, Aqualad spoke to the youngest member. "Where you able to get the geographical plans and the blue-prints?"

"Yea." Pulling up a holographic scene of the area they were all able to see a 3-D projection of the building. It was three stories tall, brick, shaped like a cross, one arm for each wing. Half the building was surrounded by trees and forest, the one they were flying over now, while the other sat near a body of water, more than likely a man-made lake. Altogether the place didn't look anything like a drug or arms facility.

Pulling up the blue-prints for the building he went through each office and who would be going through which one. All four offices where within a different wing, two on the third flour, one on the second and one on the first. Zatanna and Rocket had the office on the first floor, Artemis, and Superboy, the office on the second floor, leaving the last four members with the rooms on the third floor.

"There may be activity in the facility so stay clear of any and all people. Keep up communication every eleven minutes."

"Eleven?"

"Shut-it Kid-Mouth."

"I'm asking a question Apollo chill out."

"And this is why you both aren't going to be partnered with each other on this."

"Like I would-"

"Enough." Aqualad looked from one guilty face to the other. "Now we are almost there. Please take caution. Batman said these people are not to be handled with kid gloves. Non meta-human or not we are to not engage."

"If we have no choice?" Superboy asked speaking for the first time since entering the Bioship.

"Then you call for back-up immediately."

"I'm pretty sure there's not much they can-"

"We as of right now do not know that. The information Batman has on this group although made to appear extensive is very limited."

Robin was impressed that Aqualad had picked that up as well. They were pretty much going into this blind, not any different than any other mission but the amount of times they had been cautioned alone was a big enough hint as to how things could go bad very quickly. If he trusted them this much to go on a mission of this caliber than why didn't he-

"Get traught dude."

"I will." Robin gave his friend a grin. The red-head picked up on where his friends thoughts were going stopping them before they got any further. Truth be told, Robin hadn't thought about the room much since they started the mission, his mind too busy sorting through other things.

"Alright," Kaldur said once Miss Martial pulled the Bioship to the edge of the forest. "Do not go in until everyone is in position." Watching everyone prepare themselves to start the mission Aqualad stepped next to Miss Martian patting her on the shoulder.

/Everyone linked?/

/Yep./

/This is still so weird./

/You'll get used to it babe./

/Do you ever stop Kid-Idiot./

/We don't have time for this./

/You alright M'gann?/

/Yes, Con. /

/Alright team, move out./

BreakBreakBreak

9:36 p.m.

"You've been hanging around the Boy Wonder way too long," Rocket said dusting her hair yet again for another spider web. The girls had made it to their wing crawling through the overhead air ducts. Both in dark clothing they were not going to take any chances sticking to the ground, especially after hearing feet rush past them. They had ducked into a previously locked and empty room thanks to Zatanna's powers. It definitely helped having a magician on the team.

"It's an effective route to get from point a. to b. undetected."

"Yea and it's also an effective way to get bit by something poisonous. I mean couldn't you have made us invisible or something?"

Chuckling at her friends distress Zatanna continued to crawl through the vents. "Where's the fun in that?"

Stopping short Zatanna motioned for Rocket to keep quiet. /Aqualad I think we've run into a snag./

/What is the problem?/

Crawling up to the vent gate Zatanna moved over it carefully allowing Rocket to see down to the other side. Directly below them were two figures, one of which looked familiar. Extending the link out to the others Zatanna spoke. /Dante Ueda is in our office. We will wait till he leaves./

/Be careful. Out./

/10-4./

Zatanna looked to Rocket a smirk on her face. Really? She mouthed trying not to laugh for more reasons than one. Shooting back her own smirk Rocket winked at the magician before both turned their attention to the matters at hand.

"And so you would like me to what?"

"Lei owes us!"

Rocket noticed Dante twitch from the other male using his boss's first name.

"Lady," Dante said, stressing her title, "Lei owes nothing to no one but herself and her father. It would pay you and your men well to remember that. Get out."

Zatanna noted that they must have missed much of their conversation as heated as it was. The male talking to Dante looked between storming out and punching the relaxed Japanese-American in the face.

"Not until you give me what is rightfully mine or so help me I will go to the others with this." Opening his hand the male revealed a vial of light green powder. It was no bigger than a pen, skinny and smooth one would have mistaken it for a syringe.

Staring at the male for a few seconds Dante looked to the ground and shook his head before meeting the male's eyes once again.

"Should have just-

POW

-left."

Rocket jumped about to go down and help the guy, knowing that he was probably already dead at the point but Zatanna stopped her. Dante had given no warning of even planning to shoot the male, he wouldn't stop at anything if they showed up.

/Everyone okay?/

Zatanna jumped slightly at hearing Artemis's voice penetrate through her head from so far away. It was weird when they weren't near each other.

/Yea, why?/

/What's up?/

/Heard a gunshot./ Superboy answered the question.

/We're all fine/ Zatanna thought out to everyone taking a moment to answer. She had looked over to Rocket for reassurance in her answer.

/Yea, tell you all later what happened./

/Affirmative. Everyone stay alert./

/Stay safe guys./

Sighing internally again to settle her nerves Zatanna looked down the vent at Dante who was by now ranting to himself.

"If he had just left when I told him to leave instead of show-boating, "Oh look what I got,' the Baka-ka."

Returning his gun back to his waist band Dante cracked his neck before throwing up his hands in exasperation. "Nobody listens, nobody freaking listens to what I have to say and now look what just happened," Dante said to himself shaking his head. "Blood all over the walls and I **just** had the floor cleaned." Rubbing his temples in annoyance he stepped over to the dead male giving him a contemplative glare before smashing the vial next to his hand with the heel of his shoe.

"Teme. Do they understand how much it's going to cost to get those stains out?" Checking his suit for any stains his temper flared more on seeing a speck of blood on the toe of his black shoe. "Unbelievable. Next time Kaito's dealing with this bull." He took out a cigar, placed it in his mouth and lit it. Inhaling deeply he slowly withdrew before walking over to the desk.

Taking out a blank sheet he withdrew a pen from his suit scribbling something down quickly before folding it and placing it at the edge of the desk. "Unbelievable." Taking another puff of his cigar Dante straightened out his suit collar and left the room.

Waiting a minute after the male left the room Rocket and Zatanna entered through the grate leaving it open just in case they needed to make a quick retreat. Not trying to stay too long in the room with the recently departed Rocket moved over to the vial after swiping another blank paper from the desk and rubbed it on the powder making sure to not kick up any of the dust.

Zatanna had managed to conjure up a plastic bag to put the evidence in before slipping it into her jacket pocket.

/He knew we were here./

Turning to face her teammate Rocket looked to the paper Zatanna had in her hand. The one that Dante had written on just moments before.

/What does it say?/

/"Happy trails. You can take a sample but you won't find anything. With love ~Akashini"./

/This guy is sick./

/Yes./ Zatanna glanced at the dead male still on the ground. /He is. We should meet up with the others./

/Yea./ Giving one last look at the dead man Rocket and Zatanna left the room. She may not have known the guy, and maybe he was just as crocked as Dante, but he didn't deserve to get killed like that. No one did and so help her she would see that man behind bars for his crimes. The whole lot of them.

BreakBreakBreak

9:36 p.m.

Artemis and Superboy had made their way to the North Wing. Unlike Zatanna and Rocket who had chosen to take the high ground both stuck to the ground ducking into rooms whenever they heard noises which in their case was very often. Artemis took to the back letting the Boy of Steel lead as per request. Claiming that it was due to his hearing she knew otherwise. His interactions with the Man of Steel as of late hadn't gone well, he just wanted an excuse to fight someone first chance given.

Getting to the room that Robin had pointed to as the office Superboy had stopped her from entering the room. /There's someone in there. Few someone's./

/How many?/

/About four, maybe five. I'm going to see if I can figure out what they are talking about. Give me a second./

Turning his super hearing up, the Boy of Steel picked up a lot of papers being shuffled, feet moving and people talking in incomprehensible languages. The name Kamishiro was thrown around quite a lot. /I think Kaito might be in the office./

/Maybe we should take a closer look./ Catching Artemis's double meaning Superboy nodded his head in agreement.

/I'm game./

Looking above her Artemis shivered thinking of the last time she had ventured through the vents. She was going to maim the little bat when she saw him. /We need to go through the vents, come down on the other side./ It was the only way possible to get the upper hand on the man. It would be pretty tricky and risky to do it with others in the room but they'd work something out.

Artemis couldn't, however, stop thinking of Batman's warning earlier. They had fought against meta's with bigger background checks than these guys. Not to mention her sister and father could probably put these guys to shame. They would have at least known by now they were being infiltrated and even more, there was no way they'd be found so quick by the League. They didn't even have any cameras for crying out loud!

/Surprise?/ Superboy wasn't going to comment on the fact that Batman had told them not to engage. If these people where dealing in illegal drugs then the only way to talk to them was through force. Nodding his head in agreement he lifted Artemis up for her to pry the vent top open giving her a little extra lift to enter. Once she was safely inside Superboy followed jumping up with as little noise as possible and latching on to the inside of the vent before hoisting himself up with Artemis's help.

Now the tricky part. Timing.

Making their way into the vents above the room Artemis radioed into Aqualad letting him know that they had made it into the office. She left out the bit about going to apprehend the male in the room, she'd do that latter.

It didn't take long to get to the vent in the room, luck would have it that it wasn't above the ceiling but high on the wall behind a shelf. From this point they could see all of the people in the office, the one familiar male, Kaito, sitting at the only desk in the room. He had been partially facing the door, his attention not on the people wandering the room speaking to him but the papers on his desk.

"Zhi ge shi4 shou4gou4. Get out."

"Dan4shi4-"

"Bu2shi4. Leave."

"Hai, Kamishiro-dono." The male closest to Kaito bowed. Straightening his glasses he took the shoulder of the other male both leaving the room followed by the ones who hadn't spoken leaving the male by himself.

"Kamishiro-dono." Shaking his head at the title Kaito went back to his papers.

This was perfect. Giving Superboy a sidelong glance Artemis figured there was enough space for both her and Superboy to whittle their way out of the vent and behind the shelf. Telling Superboy that she would go first she quietly unscrewed the vent taking into the space so it wouldn't cause any noise before dropping down to the ground.

Notching an arrow onto her bow she slowly crept up behind the male who was otherwise preoccupied with his papers to notice her. That would soon cost him.

"Don't. Move."

"Oh," Kaito said looking surprised. "Was not expecting this."

"Hands above your head and no sudden movements." Pressing the head of her arrow into his neck a little to get her point across she smirked when he complied. "Stand up. Nice and slow."

Following her wishes once again the male got up slowly, keeping his hands where the female archer could see them. She had moved the arrow tip from his neck to the middle of his back letting him know one false move and it was over.

"What do you plan on doing now?"

"Just shut up and move to the corner," Artemis growled out pointing the arrow head further into the males back. By this time Superboy had made his way out of the vent and was standing at the door. If this man was thinking about making a break for it he had another thing coming.

"Fine, fine," Kaito said moving to the corner farthest from the door. "You have a handle on that weapon right? Wouldn't want to get shot on accident." Kaito turned his head back to look at the archer only to get pushed.

"Head to the front, on your knees."

"You won't just as long as you listen," Superboy said glaring at the male.

"Seems like I should listen then huh?" Getting to his knees Kaito placed his hands behind his head and sighed. "So what do I owe the pleasure of the Leagues young ones in my facility?"

"You guys are manufacturing a new drug. We want to know what it is and where you have it stashed."

"This isn't a drug facility. Honestly I don't even know what you are talking about."

_Why do they always have to play it like that?_ Artemis thought to herself before turning to Superboy. /I'll keep an eye on him, check the desk. Those papers seem very important./

/On it./

"If we check those papers and find something about a drug-"

"Then obviously you all planted them there."

Telling herself that it was not okay to just shoot the male now and go through his office she chanced a glance over to Superboy who was riffling through the papers on the desk. From the way his eyebrows were knitted together it seemed like he wasn't finding anything useful to help them on their search.

"What was that?" Superboy stopped shuffling through the papers and looked down at an angle. The noise seemed to have come from the floor below them in one of the other wings. So it wasn't M'gann.

"What was what?" Kaito asked cutting of Artemis from asking.

Shooting the male a glare Superboy turned to look at Artemis. "I heard a gunshot."

"One of your people?" Artemis asked shoving the arrow head into the male's neck again.

"Probably," Kaito said as if he didn't have an arrow dangerously close to killing him.

/Everyone okay?/ Artemis asked extending her mental link back to everyone and not just Superboy.

/Yea, why?/

/What's up?/

/Heard a gunshot./ Superboy answered the question curious as to what was going on in the other areas of the facility. He had to stop himself from leaving to find out relying on the others capabilities to remain okay.

/We're all fine/ Zatanna thought out to everyone. A sigh of relief.

/Yea, tell you all later what happened./ His curiosity was peaked once again at Rockets words.

/Affirmative. Everyone stay alert./

/Stay safe guys./

"So, about those papers," Kaito spoke up turning a little to face Artemis once again.

"You know I'm getting real tired of you."

"Not the first time someone's told me that," Kaito said shrugging. "Won't be the last." Neither Artemis nor Superboy were ready for what came next. The male had spun around quickly pushing aside the arrow in the process. Out of harm of being skewered he grabbed Artemis by the shoulder and tossed her into Superboy. The clone caught the female archer stopping her from barreling right into him or worse the hard oak desk. In doing so Kaito was able to make it to the door and out the room.

"Damn him" Artemis growled out once her feet hit the ground again. Running to the open door they were met with a clear and silent hallway.

/Can you hear him?/

/No,/ Superboy glared down the hallway.

Cursing under her breath Artemis swiftly turned before storming back into the room. /Let's just see what we can find in the room./

/Then meet up with the others./

BreakBreakBreak

9:36 p.m.

"This is going to be so easy," Kid Flash whispered looking around the room. Robin shook his head at his friend's sarcastic remark. The office they had been given was larger than the blueprints had shown, obviously someone had done some remodeling and had not updated the blue-prints. He would hack into the city's data base and work on it later.

Making sure that both doors to the room were locked he made his way further into the room. Keeping the lights off both he and Kid Flash had switched to night vision. There was no sense in alerting someone that they were in the room. The little light coming in through the small window from the half moon outside was doing nothing for them.

/I'm pretty sure that I can search the whole room in just a under five minutes./

/Yea, and trip over something in the process. We're doing this the smart way./

/I haven't tripped over anything since I was 13./

/Bialya./

_How the heck did he know about that?_ /It was a giant rock that came out of nowhere and sand…Dude not cool./ Kid Flash tapped his friend lightly on the back of the head for cackling in his head. When this mission was over he was going to stuff the bird in a closet somewhere for a few days.

Walking over to the first filing cabinet Kid Flash decided to leave the large desk to Robin. The Boy Wonder would be better suited at looking through the papers and place them back were they belonged. His mini-bat complex, as he liked to call it, wouldn't allow him not to. Going through the first drawer he found it and the next three to be empty.

_Why do these people even have so many offices?_ Kid Flash thought to himself. _This is just crazy and overkill. _

Shrugging it off he moved to the next cabinet only to find the same thing with this one. Okay, he was seeing a trend of these things in the past few days. /If the next two cabinets are empty like these two,/ Kid Flash said motioning to the ones he already checked.

/You'll scream?/ Robin asked, the amusement clear in his voice.

/You know me all too well./

Before he could comment on that Robin and Kid Flashes thoughts were interrupted by Artemis.

/Everyone okay?/

That was weird, Robin thought to himself before glancing over to KF. Had it been eleven minutes already? /Yea, why?/

/What's up?/

/Heard a gunshot./ Superboy answered sounding only slightly worried. Robin would have immediately thought of Artemis at that point seeing as he was with the other junior hero prone to set off people's alarms. Seeing as she was the one asking that left Zatanna and Rocket, or M'gann and Aqualad.

/We're all fine/ Zatanna's voice broke through the short silence that followed Superboy.

/Yea, tell you all later what happened./

/Affirmative. Everyone stay alert./

/Stay safe guys./

When the link went silent Kid Flash turned to Robin. /What was that about?/

/Don't know. Let's just get this done and meet up with the others./ If there was a chance that someone knew they were there then Robin was sure there would have been more than just one gunshot going off. The only thing he could think about was it was an internal conflict. One he was sure to keep himself and KF away from.

Picking up a packet of papers on the table Robin slowly scanned through each one starting from the back and working his way through to the front. Each page had a set of numbers on them, no names, not even a word. They could have been a number of anything. Sighing he placed that one down exactly where he had found it before and moved to the next one. It was the same.

How the hack were they even to find out what was going on if they went to a country, that none of them had studied. He had studied German, Spanish, and Italian, even Arabic, never once really thinking he'd need to know any of the Asian languages. Oh how wrong was he. Robin was pretty sure KF knew a bit more than he did when it came to the country, at least food wise. That wouldn't help them here.

Sparing a glance at his friend Robin noted that he had finally found a filing cabinet with things in it. At least maybe they'd have some more luck now. He, himself, had gone through the whole of the top desk and the first drawer finding nothing that looked remotely like flight or shipping plans let alone the make-up of a drug.

/Think we should take a few copies of these back with us,/ Robin thought out to the red-head.

/Yea. What was Batman thinking sending us to a country where they write using pictures? That's so ancient Egypt./

/KF…Shut up and go back to looking./

/Yes, mini bat-boss sir./ Robin didn't have to turn around to know the young speedster had given him a salute. Shaking his head he went back to the desk stooping down to open the last of the drawers. Maybe if he planted a bug and came back for it later they could at least have it translated at some point. About to do just that he stopped dead in his tracks when the lights to the room came on, blinding him for all of a few seconds.

_There is no way someone should have gotten into the room without me knowing,_ Robin thought before snatching off his goggles.

/Thought you locked the door dude,/ Kid Flash thought out to him staring at the four men whom had walked into the room.

/Did. Don't know how they got in without me knowing about it. Alarms didn't go off./

/Dude is that Kaito?/

Taking a second glance at the older of the Asian's standing at the door Kid Flash was right. It was him.

"Well this is a bit of a surprise," Kaito said scratching his neck. Turning to the male closest to him he patted him on the shoulder. "I told you we were being overrun today."

"My apologies Kamishiro."

"Don't worry about it," the male said stepping further into the room, his eyes never leaving Robin and Kid Flash. "May I help you?"

/Leave it to me./

Rushing to the males, Kaito in particular Kid Flash was less expecting the three other males to step in front of their boss taking the hit. Three on one was never a big thing for the young speedster but it could get dodgy with concealed weapons which he was pretty sure they had. Bouncing off of one male he kicked another in the face before punching the last of them. Moving to Kaito he side stepped at the last second as a knife whizzed past his head. _Yep, concealed weapons sucked._ He needed to at least keep them busy enough and away from Robin so attacking the boss was the best thing. Take him down and it was easy for the others to follow.

Dodging another knife Kid Flash zipped over to the male stopping him from even reaching for another projectile before decking him into the wall. Turning he side stepped a would have been well placed punch tripping him into his fallen friend before grabbing the other, a brunette, by the shoulder and tossing him into the two males, one of which was trying to get back up.

All clear for taking down Kaito who had yet to move a muscle to take him down let alone help his men he was about to run over when yet another projectile came at him. Jumping out of the way he looked to the entrance from which it came to see that it was yet another one of Kaito's men, this one wearing glasses.

Saying something quickly to Kaito and bowing he took out two daggers from his shirt sleeves and stepped in front of his boss glaring down the junior hero.

/Dude, they just keep coming./

/Stall them./

/What do you think I'm doing?/ KF nearly yelled through their link as he knocked one of the males down to the ground again. /Having a tea party?/

/Sounds like it Kid-Hatter./

/Shut it Boy Doormouse./

A few more seconds of fighting Kid Flash yelled once again in exasperation. /These guys are like Weebles wobbles!/ This had to be like the fifth or sixth time he'd knocked the guy with the knives down onto the ground. About to finish him with a solid punch to the face he was pulled from behind by the brunette and flung. Catching himself in midair he allowed the force to propel him back into the guy barreling him over.

/Hurry up and copy those papers so we can go./

/Going as fast as I can speed demon. Just keep them busy./

/You tell me that one more time and I swear-Woah!/ Kid Flash ducked a dagger that had honed in on his neck. _When did he?_ The red-head hadn't heard let alone seen the glasses wearing male move from his spot in front of his leader managing to get within inches of severing his head from his body. Ducking and dodging yet more killer shots he silently thanked his luck for having sparred Artemis so many times before.

The guys attacks came at him much faster than the other males but not so fast that he couldn't catch them as they came. Moving into another swipe he managed to get under the male and flip him onto the ground. Groaning in annoyance Kid Flash mentally slapped his forehead when the dagger wielder had bounced back up onto his feet in seconds.

"Jin. Take Yoite and Ping. Now." Kaito walked further into the large office his eyes still trained on the mini-bat who at this point had split vision keeping one eye on the older male and one on his work.

The brunette complied with a quick apology to his boss before picking up both his partners and making his way out of the room.

"You guys are very troublesome. Michi, finish this."

Walking over to Robin who by now had stopped copying the files he crossed his arms over his chest staring down the thirteen year old. "I don't normally like fighting children."

"Then stand still and this will be over quick." Robin lunged at the male starting up his own fight.

Kid Flash kicked out at the male catching him in the ribs. He was bit different from the other two males he had fought, smaller framed with a more solid body. Each one of his punches had been met with a somewhat well timed block managing to keep up with him only marginally being thrown back. Connecting a solid hit to the male's chest Kid Flash was about to follow through with a shot to his temple when something caught his attention in mid punch distracting him for just a fraction of a second. It was enough as he felt a heavy fist plow into his abdomen followed by a fierce uppercut to his jaw.

Both males dropped, one unconscious, the other to his knees panting from the exertion.

Hearing the change in the room Robin looked over to see his red-head friend down on the ground out cold. "KF!" Throwing a bird-a-rang that effectively stopped Kaito's advance for a few seconds he rushed to his friends side disregarding the male he had been fighting. Within feet of reaching his friend he stopped when something landed in front of him smashing as it hit the ground. Glass.

"Just get my things and leave," Kaito yelled to the young man who was still at the moment trying to catch his breath.

"Yes sir." Bowing quickly he stood and rushed to the desk bypassing Robin on the way and began picking up different papers that had been left in the top drawer.

"You will not get away with that." Ignoring Kaito, Robin ran to the male at the desk only to get side tracked by another item zipping to his head. Back flipping out of the way he turned to see Kaito tossing a paper weight into the air. "Where do you think you are looking?"

Robin stared down the older male taking out his metal staff again. From the way he fought previously this guy was not going to go down easy he could tell that right off the back. Sure he had at least one gun on him Robin was able to tell that he was not like the shoot happy thugs of Gotham. Sloppy and pure muscle they couldn't have hit him with a wooden boat if he was standing still. This guy had thrown a paper weight and had almost hit him had he not moved at the last second.

Not one to wait, Robin wanted to end this as quickly as possible, stop the guy from leaving the room and check up on KF.

For an older male Kaito moved faster than Robin would have thought as he swung his staff repeatedly at the male. He was sure he'd have given Batman a run for his money if it were him instead who had fought. Each punch, kick, and thrust of his metal staff was met by a powerful block, the male never going in for an actual hit.

_Is he trying to make me into a fool?_ Robin jumped back, throwing a smoke bomb at Kaito's feet before jumping back in. If regular hand to hand didn't work then he would have to improvise. The smoke seemed to be working in disorienting the male enough, Robin managing to get a few hits into the male's side and chest but it didn't last long. With the smoke clearing Kaito was getting his bearings back able to once again throw the younger male off like it was nothing.

Going to reach for his staff again Robin's eyes widened when he noticed that it wasn't were he put it. Neither was his belt for that matter. It seemed like the smoke hadn't been just good cover for him as he could see Kaito had his belt over his shoulder, staff in his back belt loop. _How did he? Oh that's it. _Quickly chancing a glance at the desk he found it to be empty, the male nowhere in sight. Kaito had effectively managed to buy his man time.

Going in once again the Boy Wonder fought Kaito trying to get him to turn just enough to try to at least grab for his staff. He'd worry about the belt later. Going in for a kick Robin wasn't expecting the male to move into it. Not prepared for what happened next Robin would lie to anyone who asked how he ended up on his back, with a throbbing shoulder blade, hands tied behind his back.

It was the same move Aqualad had used against him just the day before except better executed and hurt a hell of a lot more actually knocking him out for a few seconds. Long enough to be tied up with a wait…where did he even have rope to tie his hands up with? Glaring at the male he understood where.

"Didn't your parents ever tell you not to go through other people's things?"

"I feel as if this is an instant of the pot calling the kettle black." Kaito said with a small smirk. "You should not go through people's factories Xiao1bian3. At least not without a proper invite. There could have been horrible people running around trying to ransack the place."

"And your gang being in here isn't just as bad."

The smile disappearing for all of a few seconds Kaito walked to the desk in the room riffling through the papers that were left. You couldn't be called a second to the leader and not double check the work of your charges. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of the League's partners in China?"

"What do you think?" If he was stuck here he might as well stall long enough for the others to get there. That and get as much information on the drugs as possible. Batman was so not going to like that they didn't listen to a word he said earlier. No missions for a long time, he could feel it.

"I wouldn't be asking, Chisai Koumori, if I knew. Ah ha." Picking up a sheet of paper Kaito pulled out a lighter and set it aflame, humming a little tune to himself.

"Drugs? Guns? Ring a bell? You're destroying evidence right in front of me." /Guy's, Kid Flash is down and I'm a little preoccupied at the moment./

/Down?/

/Is he alright?/

/Idiot./

/Yes, just knocked out. We ran into Kaito. I'm stalling as much as I can right now but I don't know how long we have./

/So that's where the slime-ball went./

/Affirmed. Rocket and I will head over with Superboy. M'gann, Artemis, and Zatanna head back to the Bioship./

/Just hurry./ Robin didn't know what the guy was going to do now. If he was anything like Batman had said then Aqualad and the others needed to hurry. Fast.

"I tell you what," Kaito said walking back over to Robin and sitting down on his heels, ignoring Robins comment minutes before. He sat just far enough away that if Robin did try anything he could defend himself in time. Smart. "I will give back your belt and let you go, long as you promise never to come back here. This no place for children." The smile that crossed the older males face irked Robin to no end. He was so not traught right now.

_What type of nonsense was he spewing?_ "Or how about you give me back my things and turn around so I can arrest you." _And kick your sorry ass (five dollars in the swear jar for Alfred) for touching my belt_, Robin thought to himself. He wasn't idiot enough to say it out loud. That was left to his mouthy friend who at the moment was still knocked out cold.

Chuckling, Kaito stood up, still with Robin's utility belt slung over his shoulder. "You young kids are so fiery. You really need to learn respect for your elders, stay in school and get a good job."

"Kaito!"

Turning the Japanese male cocked his head to the side as a different young male, stockier than the first four and with a permanent scowl, walked into the room his hard gaze catching the three occupants in one motion. Saying something quick in Chinese Kaito shrugged his shoulders before speaking back. Robin should have been surprised that the Japanese male spoke Mandarin but thought better of it. He was in China…and more than half his team plus his boss were Chinese.

"I will be out in a second."

"Why not kill them?" The male said eying Robin who glared at him. "They are Justice League. Less for us to worry about." Robin knew this guy spoke in English to try and scare him. If anything it just made him more angry. Who the heck did he think he was?

"Bu2Shi4. They are kids."

"Makes no difference." The male pulled out his gun and raised it at Kid Flash's body aiming to shoot but stopped when Kaito grabbed his arm and flung him onto his backside., the gun now in his hand.

Standing over the male Kaito growled out, "Wo3 shi2 yi3 ni4de ren3 wu2 ke3 ren3! Ni4de qu4 wai4bian."

Getting up the male made a threatening step towards Kaito but stopped when the older male's facial expression changed. Robin himself felt the temperature drop slightly as Kaito's eyes narrowed slightly, his mouth in a thin hard line. This guy was no joke. "Wàibian. zhè zhènzi."

Bowing his head quickly the male left the room without a word other than a quickly thrown apology.

"Baka." Cracking his neck to release his frustration Kaito turned back to Robin. "Shitsurei. I do apologize about that. Not all of my company act out with such vile manners." He went back to the desk riffling through more papers.

"I'm sure they don't but what could you expect from gangbangers." /Seriously where are you guys?/ With Kaito's eyes preoccupied elsewhere Robin had begun to get up, slowly trying to make his way to his friend.

/We will be there in three minutes. How is Kid Flash?/ Aqualad's voice rang through their mental link.

/Still out and so will I if you don't hurry up./

/Hang on./

Raising an eyebrow at the terminology used Kaito laughed. "Kids."

Pausing in his efforts Robin slowed down his movements having covered at least half a foot. He was so not going to relay this back to the team.

"I'm going to ask you only once to stop."

_Oh sugar honey ice tea._

Stopping dead in his crawl Robin looked up to see that Kaito had a gun trained right at his head. Experience taught him that the male had it dead center of his forehead and with him tied up he would not miss. Taking the papers that he held in his hand he bit onto the corner holding them now between his lips before setting them on fire.

Robin didn't know what was crazier at this point. Him holding the gun trained to his head, or setting papers on fire so close to yourself. Letting them drop onto the ground he stomped them out before it could spread, the whole while never looking up at Robin once.

About to speak his phone went off. Holding his hand up in the silence motion Robins glare intensified. "Moshimoshi. Ah, Ueda, ah. Oh…" Speaking quickly in Japanese that was the last bit Robin was able to pick up (A/N: really I'm just lazy) of the males conversation before he switched back to English. "It's not that big of a deal, I'm dealing with it right now. Yes, yes, yes, so calm down…" Holding the phone away from his ear Kaito shot Robin an annoyed look before returning it back to his ear. "I'll buy you new ones. How is that?...Wait just a moment how much do you think I get paid…Well I know that…Fine, yes. Love you too."

Hanging up Kaito placed the phone back in his pocket and returned his gaze back to Robin. "Thank you. My partner would not have been so forgiving."

"Because holding a gun to my friends head or mine is forgiving," Robin shot back. He knew he was pushing it but at this point he was getting pissed. He had to have been tied up for the last ten minutes talking with this second seat mob boss who was said to have been dangerous but seemed, for the most part, no more than a domestic rabbit. At least when it came to younger people.

"The baka? Goodness no, Ueda. He would have killed your friend on first glance. Two bullets right in his chest, one in head, all the while making you watch. Then you." He placed his gun away.

"So I should be glad that I'm only tied up and don't have a bullet in my head?"

"There is an American saying that goes, "We do not always get what we want."" Walking over to Kid Flash, Robin was about to yell at the male to not touch his friend when all Kaito did was lay his utility belt and staff on the ground at his side. "Tell Batman that if he wants information on this drug that he claims we have, to come and get it himself."

Giving a short wave the older male left the room before Robin could say anything to him.

"So now he wants to admit it," Robin huffed under his breath. The last words Kaito said to him struck a chord. He wants Batman to investigate what's going on. Why? Most people wanted to keep downwind of the Dark Knight whenever possible, especially when they were doing something completely illegal. People don't go looking for Batman, he just found you. Kaito must have felt insulted that he would send young people to do his bidding. Constantly being called kid during their encounter didn't make it any better. Or was it something more?

In the process of thinking about all of this Robin had managed to get up and walk over to Kid Flash who was finally showing signs of waking. "Sleep well Kid-Aurora?"

"Dude, shut up." The Speedster sat up slowly rubbing his shoulder, the other arm holding his middle. "Did you manage to get the license plate of that truck?"

"Yea K-A-I-T-O. You want to help me out now?"

"Wha- Oh. Dude…How did he steal your belt?"

"Not a word."

By the time Kid Flash managed to untie his best friends hands, for Robin to place back on his belt and tuck away his staff Aqualad and the others had shown up.

"You both are unharmed."

"For the most part," Robin said helping his friend stand.

Rocket looked from Robin to Kid Flash and back. No bullet wounds, no visible bruising, and no one was dead. "Considering that you both are the second two to walk into Kaito I say that's good 'cause that Dante Ueda guy is no joke."

All they got out of Superboy was a head nod and a non-committal grunt. He wasn't going to voice it but he was glad the two were okay. Kid Flash had a way of always getting into trouble but he was more durable than their bat. When he caught up with that guy there'd definitely be hell to pay.

"What happened?" Robin asked moving over to the desk Kaito was at earlier. The papers were a complete mess but just by one look the Boy Wonder could tell all the ones left were completely useless. At least they had copied some of them.

"Me and Zatanna almost ran into the guy like literally. He was in one of the other offices talking with some suit. Apparently we weren't the only ones looking for this drug. He was like the leader of another gang from the looks, or at least their informant."

"Killed him."

Robin and Kid Flash looked to the clone, trying to understand if they heard him right.

"And you guys couldn't-"

"There was nothing they could do," Aqualad placed his hand on the youngest members shoulder.

Shaking his head Robin could only think that maybe KF and he were in fact lucky to run into Kaito.

"We should probably head to the ship now but what exactly did he say to the guy before blasting him?" Kid Flash asked moving slowly towards the door. His chest still hurt from being knocked earlier. Seemed like he still needed to practice on slowing down when fighting others. This feeling was so not cool.

"That is the best idea." Aqualad gave a look over the papers at the desk, he too coming up empty on anything solid.

BreakBreakBreak

Moving to the Bioship to meet up with Artemis and the others, Aqualad stayed at the rear, Superboy to the front and Rocket right behind him leaving Robin and Kid Flash in the middle.

"And that's when he shot him. Ueda stepped on the vial that the guy had spreading the powder but we managed to get a sample." That would mean that they had to be in the room when Ueda left, with the dead man still there. They were going to have to have a nice long talk with Black Canary when they got back. Robin could only imagine what was going on in either of his friend's heads at that point.

"He knew we were there," Rocket added after a moment. "Left a note. Show it to you guys when we get back to the Bioship."

"Did you find out anything about the drug?" Aqualad asked Robin and Kid Flash.

"He avoided talking about it until before he left. First he denied even having it but turned around to say he wanted Batman to come and talk to him instead of sending us."

Nodding his head Aqualad quickly turned to the younger member before returning his attention to where he was running. "On meeting up with Artemis and Superboy they told M'gann and I that they too ran into Kaito. He however slipped out before they could get anything out of him."

"So I'm guessing that's why he went to the office to begin with," KF said thinking about all of the possibilities. "Get rid of anything that would incriminate the Jade Sun."

"He was already doing that when Artemis and Superboy busted him."

"So maybe the suit wasn't from another gang."

"No he was," Rocket said kicking open another door. "The Eastern Snow Leopards. At least that's what the tattoo on his neck said."

"Me and M'gann were able to get that they were headed to India with the drugs. Now that they know however that people are on to them they may switch to another location. All ,however, is not lost."

"Considering that we didn't listen to anything Batman told us," KF said running alongside Robin. "I think we are going to need to bring in someone from the gang in order to not get shoved off of missions for a year."

**BreakBreakBreak**

KF was right. They were in deep crap.

Once they had all gotten back to the cave Batman wanted a complete briefing on what happened. From start to finish each member gave their briefing on what happened from what they heard to who they had run into. Batman was not pleased to say the least once he had heard everything that needed to be said.

"You all could have been killed! Did you listen to anything I said earlier? Do not answer that. Get washed up. Black Canary will handle your punishment." Batman's glare lingered onto his protégé longer than it did the others sending the message clear. He was utterly disappointed in the male's actions.

"The League will take over this mission from here." Pocketing the drug sample that Zatanna had given him along with the note, Batman left the room, his cape swishing ominously behind him.

His anger overriding his relief that the team was safe, Batman could only think about a few things right now. How lucky the kids were to be alive at the moment (they would wish different when he was through with them, their punishment did not end with Black Canary.) The fact that maybe he shouldn't have sent them on the mission to begin with. And Kaito's message to him through Robin. "Tell Batman that if he wants information on this drug that he claims we have, to come and get it himself."

Overall he was not a happy Bat. Not a happy bat at all. "Be careful what you wish for."

Entering the Zeta tube Batman had one other thing on his mind before heading to the cave. Another loose end that hadn't been tied up last night.

End

Note-Some words will be in different languages from here on out so I will be translating them for you guy's. As far as Chinese (Mandarin) and Japanese names go I won't be translating those.

**Japanese**

Baka-ka-Dumb a

Teme-Son of a -biscuit eating bulldog. (Clean version)

Hai-Yes

Chisai Koumori- Little Bat

**Chinese-Mandarin**

Zhi ge shi4 shou4gou4- This is enough.

Dan4shi4-But

Bu2shi4-No

Wo3shi2yi3ni4rěnwúkěrěn!- I am at the end of my patience with you.

Ni4de qù wàibian- You, go outside.

Wàibian. zhè zhènzi- Outside now!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice etc. etc. etc.

Note: If you are a Superman or Wonder Woman fan…or both then you are going to hate me because well….I'm not.

Chapter 7

**Wednesday**

Normally people didn't go to the same port they had been ransacked at two nights in a row. These thugs weren't normal nor were they smart.

Watching the thugs below him Rokuro took note of how many were in the area, what they looked like, and what they were moving. For people who had been attacked twice within two days they were extremely lax on security. At least two had semi-automatics but the others had either a hand gun or a crowbar. Like that had saved them the last time.

He had intercepted another shipment last night coming up empty on anything of importance. It wasn't his job to stop the arms war coming upon the city. All he could do was leave breadcrumbs for the local authorities. As slow as they were, even slower to get to a crime scene, they were the face of security in the City. That's what they were paid for anyway.

The thugs had gotten to the last crate when a wooshing sound rushed past Rokuro's ears, a cling of metal resounding against concrete. Reaching into his jacket sleeve Rokuro took half a step back before looking down to what had startled him. A batarang was set wedged into the concrete a foot away from where he stood, no doubt closer before he moved. Reaching down he picked it up noticing the crimson ribbon attached to one of the wings.

"We need to talk," a deep voice rose up from behind him.

"It seems like you already talked to my partner." Taking off the ribbon from the batarang Rokuro turned around to meet his visitor only to see no one standing there. Raising a brow in slight amusement the male swept his eyes scanning the darkest parts of the buildings shadows coming up empty.

"Normally I thought it was custom in America to-" he stopped talking feeling a presence behind him making him turn to face Batman, "meet eyes when talking...So to speak."

Not saying anything Batman studied the male before him. He had been watching him for five minutes prior but up closer he could get a better feel. 22-23 years old, Asian, from facial structure most likely Chinese despite the Japanese name. He stood with a relaxed air but from years of experience the Dark Knight knew that he was wound tighter than a pen spring ready to move at a moments notice.

He hadn't let up even on sight of the familiar ribbon attached to the batarang. That was not something you learned in three years of being around someone, especially when they didn't show such signs or precaution themselves. The time it took him to step away from the batarang and reach for a possible weapon was enough to let the Dark Knight know that Rokuro 1.) was well trained and 2.) was a close range fighter.

"Two nights ago you were in Star City, why?"

Rokuro raised a brow at the older males demanding tone. "A group of thugs from here took off with an unknown item to Star City. I went to go retrieve it."

"And you thought to give it to the League?"

"Red Arrow was in the area, helped me actually. I gave it to him."

Narrowing his eyes at Rokuro the Dark Knight did not like to get played. "You went to retrieve an item that you had no clue what it was, to pass it off to someone else." There were many unsaid implications within Batman's words. For all Red Arrow knew that box could have been more dangerous than a decorated gun. He would have a talk with the wayward male later. Right now he had to deal with this one.

"From what I found out with this particular group just last week? Yes." Saying something without actually giving anything away. This male clearly had training in talking to people. He definitely would need to be watched more.

"Which was?"

"I am curious Batman," Rokuro said ignoring the Dark Knights question, "as to what you found. You would not have come all the way here for something trivial."

"That is something you will have to come with me for." Taking a step closer to the male he wasn't at all surprised when he tensed up even more. It was a slight movement anyone else, minus the Flash, would have missed. "I am curious," Batman threw Rokuro's words back at him, "why you would involve the League in your investigation? The Crimson Avenger doesn't go looking for help nor does he work well with the League."

"Technology. The last time we found something and Crimson opened it he nearly blew himself up. I would rather that not happen again."

"I'm going to guess that is why he is not working with you on this."

"So he told you?"

"As his bodyguard it is rather strange to hear you not with him. Anyone could put that together."

"He's been doing this longer than most of you guys. He may be getting up there in years but he can handle himself just fine."

Batman for all of five seconds wondered where that comment came from. He clearly wasn't implying the Crimson Avenger, even well over his own age, wasn't capable of doing his job. "You were the one who initiated going after the item to begin with."

Bingo.

Rokuro flinched allowing the Dark Knight to know that he had hit the nail on the head.

Recovering from his slight shock Rokuro looked back over the edge of the building, "Sometimes it is best to keep the people you care about away from dangerous situations."

_Or people_, Batman thought narrowing his eyes. He was liking the young man less and less by the second. "There something I should know?"

Rokuro hid a wince at the males tone. He was a lot more imposing in person that much was certain. Any time he 'questioned' him it felt like a demand. Damn if he wasn't just a bit weary of the older male. "I just have a feeling this is going to get messier than I can handle alone Batman." Rokuro turning back to the Dark Knight looked him in the eyes. "I am going to need your help. I in turn will tell you everything that I know. In giving the item to Red Arrow I knew that you all would handle him better than if I did it myself."

"You will talk with the League. Then we will decide." Turning around Batman had already made his decision. He would take the male up on his offer. There were things he was sure the younger male knew that would be useful to him as well.

"What do you know about the Jade Sun, although you would know them more as the Tai4yang2 Yu4." He could hear the shiver that ran up the male's spine at the name of the gang.

"It is normally best not to mention them, but I have heard much about them."

"If we do this for you there is something I want you to do for us."

The younger male did not speak waiting for the Dark Knight to continue. When he didn't Rokuro shook his head slowly.

"I can figure where that conversation is going to go Batman and with all due respect what you are posing is near suicidal."

Turning to face the male again Batman glared at him. "You expect the League to-"

"I never said I would not do what you ask of me. I am, however, stating that while **I** am asking you to help, **you** are asking me to die. Lady Cang Lei was rumored to have killed 45 men Batman in the first two years after taking over from her father. 27 of those were the heads of different gangs and factions. She does not take lightly to people trying to get into her good graces with lies."

"The other 18."

"Yes. My grandfather has told me stories of her father and her fathers father. They are not a family to be toyed with. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"You should ask that of yourself." Turning once again Batman called over his shoulder. "Tomorrow evening, 5:30 same place. Do not be late." And like that he disappeared within the blackness of the shadows.

Rokuro sighed and turned back to the thugs who had finished unloading their cargo. Pulling out a bronze pocket watch from his pants he opened it revealing a picture of a woman and young boy. "I'm almost there Mei Li Jie3jie. Just give me some more time." Closing it he stared back down at the males before leaving the port.

"I'm almost there."

BreakBreakBreak

**Thursday**

The cave was rather quiet at the time normally filled with the sounds of Robin and Wally yelling at the TV as they played against each other in Tekken and CoD. Today however it was dead silent, so quiet you could hear a gnat pissing on cotton.

Directly after the botched mission last night Black Canary had started their punishment, triple training against her and Red tornado. The next day after classes they were subjected to the same punishment, sore muscles and all. Six matches each and eight tired teens later they all found themselves in some form of disarray in the living room. Robin, Zatanna and Artemis had taken up to lying on the three person sofa, Robin with his head on the arm, legs pulled up and toes currently being kept warm by Artemis's legs. Normally one to complain about close proximity Artemis could care less as she sat with her head over the seat staring up at the ceiling. Zatanna was sitting similar to Artemis with one leg propped up on the sofa. Wally had taken to the floor sprawled completely out on his back, Rocket doing the same in front of the TV. She had at least managed to snag a sofa pillow before plopping down on the ground.

Kaldur had taken up residence on the recliner, a picture of collective calm. As the leader he wanted to stay as professional as possible even though at the moment he wouldn't mind joining Wally and Raquel on the floor at this point. The red-head had even stated he should relax, the floor not being as uncomfortable as one would have thought. M'gann and Conner had taken up residence on the love seat M'gann curled into Conner, head resting on his chest eyes closed. The clone for the most part wasn't as tired as his team but he was pretty pissed he hadn't one a single match against either of the older Hero's. They had not held back at all during practice.

This is how they had ended up three hours after showering from their brutal practice.

Recognize Batman 03, the female automated voice kicked in signifying the entrance of Gotham's Prince of Darkness.

Normally they would have all gotten up to great the Dark Knight as he entered the Cave. _Too tired_, Robin thought knocking his head back against the head rest and closing his eyes.

Recognize Red Arrow B06

_Well that was a bit of a surprise…Maybe I should-_

Recognize Rokuro C09.

_Wait…What?_

This had gotten the attention of all the team, those with closed eyes opening them out of curiosity and to see if the others had heard that too. Tiredness forgotten both Robin and Wally were the first ones up and headed to the Zeta room followed shortly by Zatanna and Artemis. The others had hung back looking at one another before they too went to check out what was going on.

"Dude…Did Batman replace Agent A?"

Wally was referring to the younger male talking with the Caped Crusader and Red Arrow. He was wearing a high collard black chauffeur uniform, red gloves and domino mask, a black hat held in both hands.

"That's the Crimson Avengers body guard KF," Robin said keeping his eyes trained on the Asian male. He hadn't met him before but the gloves and domino mask were a clear give away. Besides that and no one else in the League data base he knew of wore a uniform like that.

KF shrugged stroking his nonexistent beard. "Doesn't seem like much of a criminal to me."

"Says the kid who plays darts with his villians."

"Hey, at least all of mine aren't psycho killer maniacs."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Trickster."

"The Joker is ten-times more twisted. Attempts at trying to douse a whole city in acid out-weight snot guns any day."

"Touché."

By this time Aqualad and the others had made their way to the Zeta room as well, all exchanging looks between themselves and the other two Young justice members. "Crimson Avengers body guard."

"I could see that Kid Obvious," Artemis snapped. "What is he doing here? Better yet what is _he_ doing here with _him_?" Wally could hear the contempt in Artemis's voice. Clearly she was referring to Red Arrow. He had heard about some of their little talk from the older red-head. It wasn't pretty to say the least.

He still wouldn't admit that he cared about the blond. Wally knew that she was hiding things from the team. Huge team shattering things, but that didn't mean that they couldn't find it in them to trust her. It went both ways, at least that's what his uncle had told him when he was younger. Glancing at the blonde he noticed that she had been glaring at him the whole time. Yep. _She's still a harpy._

"Talking with Batman obviously." If she didn't know any better Artemis would have called Wally an idiot and meant it. At the moment all he was doing was baiting her into an argument. Any other time would be fine but not in the presence of a key league member. She'd get him back later.

"Do pardon the intrusion Batman but what is going on?"

Kaldur ever the stoic leader was the first to speak up about the scene they had walked in on. Glancing over to the new comer he regarded him with a level look before returning his attention back to Batman. It wasn't clear at the moment but Kaldur had half suspicion that both males had been called due to the botched mission last night.

"League business," was the only thing the bat was willing to say. He was still disappointed in the younger hero's for their actions the night before making it clear in his tone. "If it is something that you need to know you will. Till then this is a league matter."

"And then this would be what? A League and rogue meeting?" Artemis asked looking between Red Arrow and Rokuro. The Asian male didn't seem at all phased by her comment but Red Arrow's eyes narrowed dangerously into slits. She was definitely asking for it.

"This matter involves an ongoing investigation in which was conducted solely by the Crimson Avenger and Rokuro. Due to its nature the League will be dealing with it as well. Therefore if the Young Justice is needed, you will know."

The last few words were enough for Artemis to back down. There were times when you could push the Bat and everyone knows that she has plenty of times but this was different. Could it be that even the Greatest Detective in the world didn't even know what the situation was about?

"So why isn't the Crimson Avenger here?" Zatanna asked just as curious. She was sure the other members in the room were asking the same question but from being around the blonde In particular, knew it would be taken wrong. The archer meant well she was just harsh with her language.

"He has other duties." Batman leveled them all with a look clearly demanding no more questions. "You are to stay in the living area till further notice."

Speaking up for his team Kaldur nodded his head. "We understand sir." It would better suit them to listen to the older male this time around.

"No problem Bats." Robin shot a sideways glare at Kid Flash knowing his mentor was doing the same thing with the public use of his nickname. There was no doubt the older ninja was going to have a few words with the Scarlet Speedster about manners. It was bad enough he acted more like a kid than the adult he was, his antics clearly rubbing off on his protégé.

Internally shaking his head the older male gave one final look at the teens letting them know that if they disobeyed there would be consequences to pay. Dire-heavier-consequences than juts dealing with extra training. "Come with me," Batman said to Red Arrow and Rokuro not looking to see if the young men had followed him.

"Alright leys go," Robin said after a few minutes, making his way to the **m**eeting room the League saved for themselves when gathering at the mountain.

"I do not think it wise of us to eavesdrop on their conversation. If we are to know what they are discussing then they will inform us. With yesterday's performance as well it would best suit us to sit this out and wait."

"Oh come on," Wally wined. "You know if they do it'll be watered down. And besides. If he didn't want us to hear then they should have taken the conversation to the tower." Besides it would be nice to finally see what the Crimson Avengers partner was like. Not many people had met him let alone talked to the guy but from what Roy had told them the other day they weren't missing much.

Robin and Wally nodded to each other before sneaking off to the shadows. If this had anything to do with whatever Roy was there for just the other day then they had just as much of a right to know what was going on. For the male to be back so soon at that, it had to be big.

In a Flash KF was gone, the only thing left of Robin was the pixie laugh within the shadows.

"Are they always like that?" Raquel asked looking from Zatanna to Artemis and finally Kaldur. Being with them for the first day and going on a mission had introduced her step by step to the ways of Young Justice. Kaldur feared the young woman was being led astray by the terror twins and their antics.

"Sadly, yes," Kaldur spoke looking to Artemis.

"Don't look at me," Artemis said slowly walking after the two idiots. "These are your charges."

"I am fully aware of that fact," Kaldur said striding to catch up to his grey eyed teammate. He knew that all too well especially after getting an earful from Batman and Black Canary afterwards. "I just wish they wouldn't run off like that. If we were truly meant to know at this time what is going on-"

"So you're not the least bit curious as to why Red Arrows here? There's always something to do when he shows up and with this new kid, it has to be big." To Zatanna it didn't seem like they were acquiring a new team member. From the way he was introduced it was more just a temporary team up.

Mulling over the facts Zatanna threw at him he had to admit he was a bit curious. "Fine. We shall…observe from the sidelines what is going on."

"You know you can just say eavesdrop."

Kaldur smirked matching Raquel's as they headed into the shadows after their teammates.

BreakBreakBreak

"Glad you all could make it," Robin snickered as Zatanna and the others made their way up the vent. Wally and he had been sitting at the entrance for some time waiting on the six to get there, betting on how long it would take them to 'Mozzie on over'. KF officially owed him 30 bucks.

"You and your vents," Artemis growled out as she swatted a spider web out of her hair, Raquel mimicking her actions. She wasn't afraid of the eight legged little buggers but she would never admit that the webs freaked her the heck out. How they just stuck to everything and never let go was just plain…creepy.

Making their way down the vent system they took a couple turns and had to back up once, Robin would swear it was Wally's fault for distracting him but they finally made it above the room. Gathering around the opening Robin could tell that they had already started, if the tension he was feeling was anything to go by.

/Think you can pull up the room?/ Wally thought out to Robin once M'gann had linked them up.

Nodding his head, Robin pulled up a holographic screen. Typing on it he flipped from screen to screen until they were looking into the meeting room. Turning the sound off, they could deal without the surround sound Robin positioned himself so that everyone could see.

/…Why didn't we just do this in the living room?/

Robin turned to Artemis giving her a silencing look. /Where's the fun in that?/

BreakBreakBreak

In the meeting room all the members stood in a semi-circle, Wonder Woman standing in between Green Arrow and Superman. John stood next to the Man of Steel with Flash making up the other end. Batman stood closest to the door leaving Roy and Rokuro standing in between the group, backs mostly to the Dark Knight.

"He is no hero." Superman crossed his arms as if to finalize what he had said as fact.

"Superman, maybe you do not know. The Crimson Avenger donned the name 26 years ago, long before you picked up a cape and placed that 'S' on your chest." Rokuro's accented voice was low and smooth, his face a picture of calm. Roy had been around the Boy Wonder enough to know that the male was anything but. His rigid stance and slight tilt of his head let the archer know that he was seething. "He saves people, unawares to any praise, unlike you."

Day in and day out the man, the Crimson Avenger, was known by so little in his city. He was known even less as a hero than he was an outlaw. Two steps away from becoming a criminal.

Roy whistled low at the words watching Superman's face. He personally didn't have any love or hate for the man of steel but he couldn't condone the way he treated Conner. Clearly the boy needed some guidance and he was just being too pig-headed to do anything on the matter leaving it to everyone else to pick up his slack. _He wouldn't make Mentor of the year with that attitude_.

Personally he didn't know why they were talking about this at the moment. They had been called here to talk about a proposition from Rokuro and Batman. This, discussion, about the Crimson Avenger right now was completely irrelevant. Rokuro had tried to side-step Superman's earlier comment to go on about why he was there but the Man of Steel was not having it. Now the others were left to watch a tennis match.

Before the Man of Steel could say anything against the black clad male, John spoke up his gruff voice resounding in the room. "Now wait just a moment kid. You need to show your elders a little bit more appreciation and respect than that."

"With much due respect sir," Rokuro turned to the earths second Green Lantern locking eyes with the older male. "Crimson has been protecting his city at least a few years prior to you joining the military even gaining that ring you so wear with pride, before you," he turned to Wonder Woman, "Stepped foot off of your Island. In a sense he helped pave the way for all of you. It is **you **who should show a bit more respect."

"Tell me," Rokuro switched his hat to his left hand before continuing to speak, "Would it be better if he were to destroy buildings and property instead? I'm sure placing innocent civilians in harms way with brute strength is a lot better than getting a potentially dangerous item out of the hands of someone who can do more harm than good."

"Now wait just a moment-"

"We didn't call Rokuro hear to persecute him or Crimson." Shielded eyes turned to the Fastest man alive. "So how about we all calm down and talk about why we're all really here."

"The box you retrieved from the Gorilla Gang, (Find me a better name and I'll use it)" Batman took lead of the conversation now that Flash had got everyone to shut up. He'd…Thank…the Speedster latter. Truthfully he was getting agitated by the back and forth between his senior members and the young man making it known by delivering each their very own bat-glare. _Business_.

"Where did they steal it from?"

Turning his gaze to the bat Rokuro spoke. "They did not." Batman shot Superman yet another glare as the Boy Scout was surely going to say something. "It came with a shipment of arms from Port in the City."

"How did you discern this one item from the others?" This came from Red Arrow who was openly curious as to how the male even followed them to begin with.

Slowly pulling out a paper from his shirt Rokuro handed it over to the Dark Knight whilst speaking to the redhead. "I managed to snag their shopping list. You do not buy a boat load of pistols, rifles, and automatics, just to get a single revolver. No ammunition, no magazines."

"That could have been for the boss."

Rokuro gave Wonder Woman a side long glance before continuing to speak. "If that were the case then he would have gotten one by Smith and Wesson, their signature weapon. The revolver marked on the sheet was Colt. You do not give your men a gun from the company you yourself do not use. Hence the red flag."

"Seems you know a lot in this department."

"They were on their way to give the item to someone. " Rokuro chose to ignore the Green Lantern's snide comment. "We believe it to be Ultra-Humanite."

"Ultra-Humanite?"

"Yes-"

John interrupted Rokuro's explanation to Green Arrow in suit for his own question. "Why would Ultra-Humanite work with a bunch of low time gangsters?"

"As of right now we are not even sure it is him. The name has been dropped from time to time but nothing more. The gang, however, has been making advancements on territory as of late."

"If you and Crimson have been working on this for so long, why come to us now? "

Rokuro turned to Superman crossing his arms over his chest. "Neither I nor Crimson have x-ray vision, nor do we possess half the tech the league has. Besides, if something were to blow, I'm sure you all would be more prepared for it than we would."

Turning back to Batman Rokuro spoke. "The shipments started in Singapore, then nothing till China, India, Spain, and finally New York."

"Where you intercepted it later in Star City."

"Correct sir. Red Arrow here assisted me in its retrieval. Due to the nature in which it was found I felt it better for him to give it to you all for analysis."

Taking that as an acceptable answer, the same one he had given the night before, Batman pressed on for more information. "How exactly did you plan on finding what was in it afterwards?"

"There was always the possibility of running into Red Arrow again in the near future. Either that, or one of you would find out how it really came into possession."

"And we would tell you?"

"No," Rokuro said shaking his head, "I would be dragged here and interrogated."

Green Lantern scoffed. "Trust me kid you are not being interrogated. Not yet anyway."

"Alright play nice," Flash said ever the peacemaker.

"This," Batman said cutting off Green Lantern and Superman before they could jump on the Speedster, "is what the item was. Seen it before?" He handed a photographed copy of the revolver to both Red Arrow and Rokuro. Paying close attention to the later he scanned his face for any signs of recognition. It didn't take long and he was rewarded by a slight peek of the male's eyebrows_. _The way that he, in the Dark Knights opinion, hesitated answering just solidified his answer. The male knew at least something about the gun.

"Not at all," Red Arrow stated not noticing Batman's eyes locked dangerously on the other male before him.

"I've never seen it in person but yes. I do know of it."

"What's its significance?"

Reaching into his left pocket Rokuro produced a medium sized felt bag. "While on a job with Crimson last March we ran into the Gorilla Gang trying to steal the Ruby eyed Owl from the Chicago Gallery of Arts."

"You mean the same owl you ran off with-"

"And returned safe, sound, and with every ruby intact yes," Rokuro stated flatly before returning his gaze back to the bag in his hand. "While watching them one of the members had mentioned a collection of goods they were trying to obtain for a special buyer. The ba1 ní2nán2 hun2, Eight Whispering Souls. That gun and this pocket watch," Rokuro dumped the item into his palm holding it out for the others to see, "are two of those items."

The pocket watch was toned similar to the gun, black with silver rose petals running along the edges in a circle. The back of the watch was a deep red, the head of a dragon engraved in the middle.

"The other items are said to be a locket, two rings, a bracelet, dagger and katana. 117 years ago was the first time they had been stolen from the home that they had been lay to rest at. Resurfacing now twice and in the wrong hands they have the capability to destroy whole cities."

"How is that possible?" Flash asked eyeing the pocket watch. As farfetched as that sounded if a small piece of glowing green rock could take down the strongest man alive, at least on Earth, then who was he to say a pocket watch couldn't destroy an entire town?

"There's an ancient story within China about a creature that came from the mountains during the spring, destroying an entire village and killing people in its wake. The villagers, that following year, managed to find a way to draw the creature back to hiding and stop it from attacking by scaring it away with the color red and noise. Every year that tradition is carried and ever since then the creature has never shown its face."

"Chinese New Year. Which would make the creature you speak of the Nian,"Batman said taking the pocket watch from Rokuro who nodded his head. "These aren't to keep away the Nian."

Rokuro shook his head. "They are in fact pieces of the Nian."

"Okay now this is just getting weird," Red Arrow said walking over to the wall to lean against it. "What you are essentially telling us is that this mythical creature is real and that those items are the creature. That it hasn't been seen in like centuries, but people want to bring it back to what destroy the world. How are these items even…Oh…," Red Arrow rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. He was going to need a drink after this. _What did I get myself into?_ "The soul of the Nian was placed in those items…wasn't it."

"Yes."

"This sounds like a really bad film."

"I share your sentiments on that one kid," Green Arrow said crossing his arms as well. When he had signed up for the league he had expected the occasional alien attack and supervillian trying to either take over or destroy the world. Ancient mythological creatures who weren't actually myth coming back to destroy the world. He'd be visiting his local bar later that night.

Shaking his head at both archers Rokuro mentally agreed with both males. "The fact of red being capable of keeping away the creature is real. The way it was kept away however is not. Seven warriors, with the help of a monk by the name of Hongjin LaoZu [1], risked their lives to battle the creature. All of them lost their lives but Hongjin was able to lock its soul into the swords of the fallen warriors placing his own and one last bit of the creatures' soul into his staff where he has managed to subdue it. The items I mentioned earlier are not the original vessels used to keep it locked away. In 1955 the items had resurfaced for a fraction of time. May 14th."

"The day the U.S performed nuclear tests in the Pacific."

Nodding his head at the Flash Rokuro continued. "The items had somehow been destroyed and the Nian had resurfaced using its rage to traverse not just mountains and the seas but the ocean as well. The Pacific being the closest one. Legend had it that because of Hongjin LaoZu's actions with him being able to control the Nian that whoever found that piece could control the creature themselves. Whoever broke the seals kept that piece for themselves unleashing it's fury onto the world. Even with the left over tensions from the wars the U.S and the other nations decided to band together and subdue it before it got out of hand. They just covered it up as a test, nothing more."

"They would have had to apprehend who stole the pieces to begin with wouldn't they."

"As much as I would like to tell you who that person was Wonder Woman, I don't know. Neither I nor Crimson Avenger were able to find that bit of information. After that incident the items were placed in a disclosed location but stolen again five years later."

"Five years after and nothing since?"

"We believe that whoever stole them again was biding their time for the right moment."

"The Nian was unleashed in May of 1955. The myth states that the creature only attacked during the spring, specifically around Chinese New Year."

Turning to look at Martian Manhunter, Rokuro shook his head. "You have never seen a controlled and vengeful spirit have you? It will not rest till it has had its revenge. "

"So this gang has somehow found at least two of the items. Are we supposed to play wait and steal or is there a way to find where they are?" Flash asked curious as to how the male expected them to help.

"I am still working on that, I admit. It is only a matter of time before their supplier and buyer find out what is going on and retaliate."

"When I searched the gun there were no traces of life or spirits coming from it."

He hadn't meant to but at the Martians question, Rokuro had let out a low chuckle. Before anyone could ask him what was so funny about the situation he turned to the Martian and spoke. "Prey do not see the white marking of a tiger till it is too late. A lion will not roar till it is fed. You would not be able to sense it any more than I would be able to. That is why they are marked. Black for the Nian only attacks at night, red to scare it away. The Dragon is a sign for the strength, power, and luck of the warriors. Rose petals for innocence, the lives lost."

"And when everything is found."

"They will be brought back to where they belong and looked after."

"If they were stolen from China to begin with why leave them there?"

"And where would you rather them be? Here? Who's to say you will not use that for your own gain of justice?"

"Why would you even think-"

"The huge cannon floating around the earth is one. Should I continue?"

"We will deal with that matter when the time comes," Batman spoke effectively shutting up all occupants of the room. "Until then we will be working with Rokuro to find them."

"Are you sure we should let a civilian handle this?" Superman asked Batman directing his question to the male before him. "If anything this should be left for the League and Young Justice to sort out."

_Pissing contest number two here we go_, Roy thought as he leaned further into the wall. He had no clue that Green Arrow was mimicking his motions and his thoughts on the other side of the room.

"Wo3 shi2 yi3 ni4 ren3wu2 ke3ren3! You would not know about this if I had not brought it to your attention. Either you **help**, or I take off with the items and solve this myself."

"You think we'd just let you waltz off with them after hearing all of that."

"Try me mu4hou2 'er2guan1."

"Alright that's enough." Flash zipped in between the Man of Steel and the young man remembering his promise to the Crimson Avenger. He really wanted to ask the Dark Knight what the male had called Superman. If he got the Batman to smirk, a twitch of his lip really, then it must have been bad. "Rokuro has a point Supe's. We need him on this."

Stepping forward Green Arrow spoke up. "I agree. If there is a threat like this out there then we need people who know what we are looking for."

"That was never a discussion," Batman spoke up yet again. "He has been given access to the Cave as of today. Anything you find you let us know. That goes for you as well." Batman was still studying the younger man scrutinizing his every word for deceit. So far he had logged away a lot he would go over later.

Holding out his hand again Batman held out a com link for the black haired male. His test started now.

Rokuro hesitantly took the com Batman held out to him. He could either leave here at least knowing he was being watched and have a slight clue as to how or not, and be paranoid with every shadow. _They don't call him the psychological detective for nothing. _"_You_ will be the second to know."

Clearing his throat Superman shot the retreating male a look effectively stopping him in his tracks. "This does not mean that you are in the league. We only need the information you can gather. And find out what you're up to."

"I would not have it any other way Superman although you could always ask. Crimson never shoots without someone aiming first." Rokuro added as a last thought his face a complete wall of stone. "I will inform you on anything I find." With that said Rokuro bowed to the League members and left.

"Don't look at me," Roy stated throwing his hands up. "You already know the drill."

"Just keep an eye on him when you can," Superman said crossing the room over to Batman. Clearly Clark wanted a word with the Caped Crusader on who to let into the cave let alone work with them.

"I don't baby sit. You have a problem with someone, track them yourselves. Wasn't that what the com was for?"

"Actually, they were only for communication."

"If you say so," turning to leave Roy shot a goodbye over his shoulders and walked away.

"I don't trust that kid," Green Lantern said turning to Batman. "He's obviously hiding something from us. Him and Crimson."

"I don't know. I kind of like him."

Wonder Woman, Green Lantern , and Superman all looked at Flash as if he had lost his mind.

BreakBreakBreak

Wally and Robin looked at each other mischievous grins on their faces.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Two words. Secret mission."

They turned to Raquel, Zatanna, and the others, the Atlantean shaking his head thinking about the last secret mission they had went on. Sure they had rescued Superboy but they had also been chewed out by the entire Justice League. Artemis looked in between joining them in their merriment or feeling scared for her own safety dealing with the two. Zatanna had joined them their first meeting knowing just a little on how bad things with those two could go leaving their newest member Raquel in the dark. M'gann was split on joining them as well or just side stepping this one knowing that they were still in hot water from yesterday's mission. Superboy shared the same thoughts as his Martian girlfriend. Sometimes it was better not to press their luck.

Either way this did not forebode well.

End

Okay so the story of the Nian, there are like a bagillion renditions of it, my Chinese Professor told us the version not dealing with Hongjin LaoZu. Now I put a spin on the story itself. The actual story with this monk was that he went to the mountain to talk to the Nian and was able to subdue it. No seven samurai, no spirit sealing techniques. That's from my own over-productive imagination. Although with myths it could be possible…

**Chinese-Mandarin**

Jie3jie-Older sister

Wo3 shi2 yi3 ni4 ren3wu2 ke3ren3- I am at the end of my patience with you. –Love this saying-

mu4hou2 'er2guan1- lit. a monkey wearing a crown

So…what is going on with people trying to destroy the world all of the time? Is Ultra-Humanite behind this or is it someone more…sinister? Can the League really trust this man Rokuro? What is it that Batman is hiding from his young ward? Stay tuned to find out. Coming soon. Three Musketeers Slumber Party! XD. Haven't forgotten Raggedy Ann, Wendy's and Pippins male bonding time.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice etc. etc. etc.

A/N- Thanks for the reviews

Misère-While writing this chapter out I couldn't stop thinking of possible ways to go off into Robins…discovery. Lol. Hope u like it.

And as always Thank you Timexgone23 for editing my chap. XD. Don't forget ur homework.

Chapter 8

Once the initial meeting had been over, i.e. Rokuro and Red Arrow leaving, the Young Justice had quickly and quietly made their way back into the living room. It would be good to be where Batman said they should once he came out of the meeting room himself; no need to get caught not listening to orders two days in a row. Hell training with Canary and Tornado was bad enough already, thank you.

It had been just over thirty minutes after situating themselves back in the positions they held previously, they were called to the training room by none other than the Bat himself. There was no way this was a good sign. Exchanging looks with one another only one thing ran through their heads.

They were so **busted.**

_Please don't let this be another training session, please don't let this be another training session, please don't let this be another training session_, Wally prayed to himself as he walked alongside Robin who seemed to be chanting to himself as well. If anything the mini-bat knew that keeping things from Batman was like trying to lick your own elbow…impossible. (A/N-Go ahead and try…I'll wait.)

Making it to the training room they were graced with Batman standing in the center of the room. Black Canary stood off to the side with Red Arrow wearing his ever present scowl. Rokuro stood farther away his eyes fixated on his gloves that he was steadily readjusting. It looked like both would rather be anywhere else but in the mountain at the moment. Robin and the others had thought they exited over a half-hour ago realizing that they never really did hear the automated female voice announce their departure.

"Normally," the Caped Crusader growled out sending each student a glare that could have rivaled the coldness of Freezes gun. "I would brief you all on your new mission, but seeing as you already took the initiative." He paused.

/Dude we are in deep shi-/

/Pay attention,/ Aqualad cut in before Wally could finish his statement. If worse came to worse he would take full responsibility for the teams actions. It was only right.

Batman paused to look at each guilty face before continuing satisfied at what he saw. "Rokuro will be team leader on this mission as he is more familiar with the information – Red Arrow and Kaldur, second and third in command." Ignoring the slight sign of protest from Rokuro, Batman began his stride back to the conference room.

"So, team leaders huh?" Artemis scoffed looking Red Arrow up and down before scrutinizing the new comer. "We already know who this…oh so _lovely_ person is. Care to introduce yourself?"

Still stuck in his own world for a minute longer Rokuro snapped himself out of it and turned to face the blonde haired, grey eyed female in front of him. "Rokuro, it is a pleasure to meet you all." The older male bowed to the team just as he had done with Red Arrow on first meeting.

"There's really no reason to be so reserved," Wally said crossing his arms. Really, they already had one member who acted like such a stiff. He loved Kaldur as a friend really he did, but the guy seriously needed to relax once in a while.

"Um…okay," Rokuro said not knowing what else to say at the moment.

Watching the teams exchange for a bit longer Black Canary clapped her hands together to get their attention. Once she was positive all eyes were on her she started.

"Why don't we have a friendly spar to welcome you to the team?" Black Canary asked Rokuro who was none the wiser with her charming smile. Each one of them had fallen prey to the 'friendly spar' and gotten their butts handed to them, even Kaldur and Conner. She may have only been 140 pounds of female, but she could give even the biggest meta-a hard time without screaming their brains in with her voice.

Rokuro still had the smarts to remain a bit weary likening her to a black mamba. Beautiful to look at, but it was never wise to cross one's path. She said friendly spar, but what he heard was completely different. "And I am to assume my opponent will be you?" His tone was not condescending rather curious as he passed his hat back and forth between hands, a habit he did when unsure how a situation would turn out.

"There a problem with that?" Black Canary asked smoothly. She had taken no offense to his question merely asking him what he thought. Most guys would have either jumped at the chance to fight (just to get close to her) or decline (because she was a woman.) She wanted to see which one Rokuro was. As a man around Roy's age she would peg him to be the first, but after his initial hesitance Black Canary wasn't so sure. "I may be a woman but-"

"Pardon me Black Canary for the interruption, but you could be a seven foot tall, 250 pound jacked male with a bald head and a goatee and I still would be a bit hesitant to fight."

"Probably because he'd be afraid to get his face pounded in," Artemis scoffed making a note on his relative size. About the same height as Roy, he was noticeably smaller in comparison to the red-head in muscle mass. The suit would hide any tonal definition that outfits her male counterparts and she wore, but his slim frame was enough to tell the archer that it probably wasn't much. He was at least 145 soaking wet. Sharing a look with Raquel she knew the dark eyed female was thinking the same thing.

"Really?" Wally asked giving Artemis a deadpan face.

"What? I'm just stating an opinion. Not like I was talking about you. Although-"

"You should not measure a person's skill by their size," Aqualad added his imput, giving Artemis a stern gaze. "We shall watch the match and gauge Rokuro's skill for later missions. I believe that is the purpose of this exercise."

Shooting Kaldur an appreciative look she focused her attention back on Rokuro who had otherwise ignored the archer's comments. "And why is that?" Black Canary asked redirecting the conversation to the male's earlier statement.

"Before I fight I like to question a person's intent. Normally after that, I base how I fight from there."

"And if they do not respond?"

"Then there is no reason to fight."

"Hm." Getting the gist of what the male was saying Black Canary stepped to the middle of the circle the floorboards lighting up. Nodding for the male to do the same she waited as he complied, albeit a bit slowly. Crouching forward a bit with her hands in fists, fighting pose ready, Black Canary took the whistle from around her neck and tossed it to Red Arrow. "Best two out of three, no weapons, no powers."

Nodding his head in affirmation Rokuro placed his hat back on his head and stepped towards her stopping just shy of a meters length away. He stood with his feet shoulders width apart, hands up in loose fists in front of his collar bone.

Shaking his head Red Arrow placed the whistle to his lips. He could think of seven different ways this fight would end and none of them were good for Rokuro. He had seen the male fight in person, but he had fought against Black Canary in training plenty of times. He'd last probably one round if that.

_FWEEEEEEEEEEE!_

True to his word the black hatted male had not moved a muscle waiting for Black Canary to advance which she took full advantage of.

Unlike Kid Flash and Conner's first time sparring, she was the one to have to attack first trying to bring the male down in the same manner – a quick swipe to the legs. Setting it up she pushed forward with a series of flips, kicks, and punches, narrowing her eyes when all he did was block her attacks, not once advancing. He was fast, she would give him that, but not fast enough. Pushing further and feigning a left hook she managed to finally get him to throw a punch, slipped behind him as he moved forward and swept his legs in one fluid motion.

Rokuro went into a break fall before popping back up with a no-hands kip up immediately having the female on the defensive as he kicked out staying relatively low to the ground. Back flipping out of the way Black Canary landed a few feet away before rushing back at the male who was just now regaining his footing. He blocked her kicks and punches noting that most of them had been aimed at his head or chest before retaliating with his own string of punches picking up the pace of the fight little by little.

Robin turned to Wally both males sharing a look before returning their attention back to the fight. Black Canary was going at it a lot harder than she did with them on their first day if all the head shots were anything to go by. It seemed, however, that Rokuro was experienced enough to not get his head taken off. Even so they knew she was holding back.

Ducking one of Rokuro's punches Black Canary stepped further past the male blocking the elbow that he sent back at her with a hand right on the joint keeping it straight, her other hand gripping his shoulder right in the groove of his collar bone. In one fluid motion she managed to kick his leg from underneath him, pushed his shoulder down till he was on his knees and pulled his still trapped arm up twisting it.

"Give?"

Remaining quiet Rokuro tested how much slack he had to get out of the grip without popping his arm out of its socket or getting it broken. Not much. He would not be able to. "It would seem I would have to."

_FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_ "Match Black Canary." _Go figure._

Letting go of his arm and taking a step back Black Canary gave the male room to stand watching as he rotated his arm to loosen it up. Turning to the female, Rokuro bowed his head slightly before taking a step back and readying himself in the same manner as before. Smirking Black Canary did the same. Waiting for the whistle, which came soon enough, they started their second match this time Rokuro not waiting for the females advance.

"He's fast," Zatanna commented watching as Rokuro blocked each punch and kick delivered by Black Canary following up with his own combinations managing to force the older female back. This fight seemed almost choreographed compared to the first one as if they both had gotten a firm grasp on how the other fought. They had been exchanging blows for the last five minutes neither one giving an inch of ground.

"They both took the first sparring match as a way to gauge the others fighting."

"And expand on their own knowledge," Kaldur added to Robins analysis. "He's switched up his technique."

Robin nodded his head. At first Rokuro only really struck as a way of defense against Black Canary. This time, however, he took more of the offensive matching the older hero blow for blow. He kept the fight closer not allowing much room for any real kicks to be thrown ducking the punches directly aimed at his head instead of blocking them this time around. He feigned attacks more and would catch Black Canary off guard every so often, but never the chance to finish the fight.

Pressing the female harder Rokuro managed to catch Black Canary in the shoulder knocking her off balance for a fraction of a second. Taking that to his advantage he moved to finish the fight. Black Canary at the last second righted herself sending a roundhouse kick to the male's side directing him to the ground. Not one to stay down he rolled up over to his back catching her foot as she came down for an ax kick and twisted almost gaining the upper hand for a leg lock.

Black Canary figuring that was what he was going for sent a kick out to his arm after hitting the ground, effectively getting him to let go before rolling away. Getting to her feet she watched as Rokuro followed through with another kip up. Rolling his shoulders he nodded to Black Canary who began to circle the male slowly, he, following her with his eyes.

On her second turn around Dinah was not expecting the male to begin an attack. A back spin hook kick almost took off her head, having to duck she felt the air from the kick whish by her. He followed up with a series of front and back kicks almost catching her again this time feigning another straight kick before going into a hurricane. Blocking the last kick Black Canary managed to spin her body closer to his catching him in the face with an elbow. Sending him to the ground for what seemed like the fifteenth time in this match she was not surprised that he was back on his feet in a matter of moments.

Throwing a well-placed punch at the males cheek Black Canary didn't foresee what came next. Rokuro, using the momentum of the hit, had spun his body into a back spin hook kick catching the female in the back. Continuing with the motion he grabbed her arm as she fell and with his other hand pushed down on her elbow getting her into the same position she had him in the first match. His body, however, was slightly bent with his knee in the middle of Canary's back adding pressure to her twisted arm.

"Give."

_FWEEEEEEEEE!_ "Match Rokuro."

Letting up quickly Rokuro stood up and held out his hand for Black Canary to take. Taking the offered hand and standing Black Canary gave a smirk to the young man. "Good fight."

"Same."

Backing up without taking his eyes off of the older woman Rokuro waited for the whistle to sound, this time not taking a stance what-so-ever. Black Canary too seemed more relaxed with the third match underway.

The match started off similar to how all the others did with neither side giving an inch of ground. Side stepping the hit Black Canary spun quickly around catching the male's hat with a hammer fist sending it flying into the direction of her other students. She had intended to hit him in the side of the head with that hit relying on his possible miscalculation as to where she'd strike next.

Robin caught the hat in midflight before it could hit the wall noticing a piece of paper at his feet that must have fell out. Picking up the paper Robin unfolded it to realize it was the photo given to Rokuro by Batman not too long ago. His eyes grew wide. In the vent when they had been watching the feed in the room Robin wasn't able to make out the picture or the gun and pocket watch as well as he could now.

That's when the description the male gave came back full force.

_That is why they are marked. Black for the Nian only attacks at night, red to scare it away. The Dragon is a sign for the strength, power, and luck of the warriors. Rose petals for innocence, the lives lost._

If he remembered correctly, which he normally did (Protégé of Batman) there were rose petals on the locket Wally and he had found the other day, a black opal right in the middle. He hadn't opened it that night so he couldn't be too sure if there were any other marking on it but the box had rose petals as well. The wood itself was old but could it have been a possibility that at some point it was red.

Robin felt a pressure on his shoulder and looked over to see Wally's eyes on the photo. Giving him a knowing look the redhead nodded his head slightly before returning his gaze back to the match. When he got the chance they'd talk about it with each other. It would be Friday tomorrow meaning they could drag the older redhead into the conversation as well. He did promise Wally the other day he'd talk to Roy too.

Placing it back into the older male's hat before anyone else could see it, Robin made a mental note to talk to check out the locket again later. If it was in fact one of the items then that was one less they would need to look for. But that opened up another door as to why his parents had it in the first place. They had never mentioned anything about the Nian let alone even celebrate the Chinese New Year. It could have very well been a gift or picked up at some point or another. The Bat in him was telling him, however, that was not the case.

"I concede."

Returning his attention to the match Robin was slightly put off to find that: one, it was already over and two, Black Canary's opponent had just give up half way in a fight. So not cool. It seemed like he wasn't the only one who had shared that notion as Kaldur's face was pulled into a slight frown. The Atlantean was probably wondering if there new leader was in fact capable of just that, leading.

While in the midst of the last fight Rokuro had barely been able to block the throws and kicks coming at him from all different directions. If the fight had continued he was sure he'd be on the ground right now staring up at a very content blonde with a Cheshire cat smile planted across her face. He knew when he was at a disadvantage. Jumping back out of the way of a punch, Rokuro had flipped out to the edge of the circle before bowing his head.

_FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_ "Match Black Canary."

Black Canary, on seeing his retreat, straightened up and walked over to the black clad male frowning slightly. "You gave up."

"I merely stated the obvious that there was no way of me winning this match."

"You don't know that because you stopped."

"Sometimes to press one's luck is more harmful than good. I would choose to walk away and learn from my mistake than not be able to walk away at all."

Roy who had been standing at the side watching knew what Rokuro meant. Seeing him those few nights ago confirmed his suspicions within the first two matches they had. In the alley he was fighting against people who wanted to take off his head and do more than just break a leg or a few ribs. In response he had fought in the same manner, never really going for that kill shot, but enough for the attackers to get the hint. Here was a completely different environment, a 'friendly match.'

Black Canary was holding back during her three fights, that much any of the students could tell, never truly going all out. As a teacher you had too, less you wanted to injure a student, instead pushing them slightly to do better and learn from their mistakes. Her fighting with Rokuro had been no different, pushing him little by little till she found his rhythm and skill, but fighting someone who only pushes after you have is tricky to gage. If you do not have the intent to be serious then why should the other person?

Crossing her arms at the male Black Canary was a bit perturbed by his confusing way of speaking. She thought Kaldur and J'onn where the only ones that could puzzle her so. She would have to add him to the list. "So you would turn tale and run. During a mission it could pose a dire problem if you give up like that. Think about what could happen to a teammate or you if you just give up fighting because you feel as if you cannot win."

"Your intent was not to harm correct," Rokuro stated fixing his uniform jacket. "With that being the case, if I felt like I was going to lose then there should have been no reason to really continue the match. Had your intentions been otherwise then you are correct, I would not have stopped no matter the outcome. Intent means everything when it comes to fighting."

"So then you did not take the fight seriously?"

"I took it as serious as you made it."

Dropping her arms to her sides Black Canary gave Rokuro a hard look before coming to a conclusion. "Then there is no reason to fight," she repeated his words before the fight. "You base your will to fight off of your opponents. So if I had been more serious in our fight then so would you."

"I am curious as to why you did not take it serious to begin with."

"I don't want to hurt my students on the first day."

"Fair enough," Rokuro said after a moment's pause.

"I would have to say I feel cheated knowing that maybe I should have gone harder on you. You do seem rather skilled, however."

"Thank you."

"You all done getting to know each other?"

Turning to the entrance of the training room Batman stood off to the side his cloak wrapped around him in an ominous manner. It was a wonder to how long he had been standing there.

Brushing her hair back and picking up her discarded jacket Black Canary spoke up to her fellow League member, "Just finished up."

Staying at the entrance Batman leveled the Young Justice, Red Arrow and Rokuro with a solid look. "You all as a team will meet again on Sunday. By then you should have more information on exactly who it is these items are for and why they want them." This statement was directed to the Asian male who nodded his head.

Turning sharply Batman waited for no response before leaving back to wherever he had come from. "Well you heard the man," Black Canary said with a smile. "Now training will resume tomorrow at the same time. Red Arrow and Rokuro, you are more than welcome if you want to join."

"I'm going to pass," Red Arrow said heading towards the entrance, tossing Black Canary her whistle in the process.

"Actually before you go," Rokuro stated stopping Red Arrow in his tracks, "I would like to speak with you and Kaldur'ahm in private." Turning to the other members of the team Rokuro bowed. "Thank you all for your time. I will see you on Sunday."

"Dude, your hat," Robin said holding up the article of clothing.

Staring at the younger male as if wondering when he had lost it to begin with Rokuro gave a small smile before walking over to the dark haired male. "Thank you." Taking back the hat he smoothed his hair back, some of which had gotten in his face from the fight, before turning and walking towards Red Arrow who waited by the entrance, Kaldur behind him.

"Well I'm hungry," Wally said nudging Robin in the arm. "Ro-ob! Make me a sandwich."

"Sure Kid-Munchlax."

Ignoring Artemis and Rocket's comments about how much he ate in a day Wally grabbed Robin by the arm and headed off to the kitchen humming a tune. Knowing the Speedster the way he did Robin knew it was a way for the both of them to be alone for a bit at the mountain and talk without drawing suspicion to themselves. If anyone did come into the room then they always had sign language to fall back on.

M'gann and Conner had already used the kitchen to bake cookies, and not burn anything, much. The oatmeal raisin cookies had come out better with just a light burning at the bottom – eatable none the less. Kaldur was off talking with talking with Rokuro and Red Arrow, who knew how long that was going to take. Rocket would probably be doing extra training with Zatanna now that they were at least a bit rested up from hell training and Artemis with any luck would be sharpening her arrows again.

"So," Wally said once they had made it to the kitchen. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That the locket may be one of those items Rokuro was talking about? Yeah..."

"There's a possibility there are more things in that room." Moving around the kitchen Wally had produced two plates, bread, _all_ the cold cut meats from the fridge along with some mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and cheese slices.

"There's also the possibility Batman already knows about it."

Stopping in mid spread Wally looked up at his friend. That was a huge possibility knowing the Bat. "You should talk to him."

"He should have talked to me."

"You're right," Wally said sliding Robins finished sandwich in front of him. "And this may not be the thing you want to hear, but he had his reasons for not telling you." Starting his sandwich Wally held up the hand with the butter knife to silence his friend while he finished his thought. "However, much you or I may not agree, he had a reason. But you both should really talk about this seeing how important it is to you."

Taking a bite of his sandwich Robin thought over what his friend had said. "True."

"And if anything else just call me and we can talk about it. We're still going over Roy's place tomorrow. You ready to talk to him?"

"Ready as I'll ever be I guess."

Sitting down next to his best friend with his ten stack sandwich Wally nudged him yet again. "Till the wheels fall off."

"Till the wheels fall off."

-X-

_Meanwhile_

"So, what do you want?" Red Arrow voiced getting a bit annoyed at the silence they had been walking in for the past few minutes. It was only per request by the male due to the mission he was on that he was with both Rokuro and Aqualad…walking slowly to the Zeta room…in silence….-_-…. Normally he wouldn't mind it with Kaldur as he had been able to hold conversations with the Atlantean plenty of times before. Rokuro was another story and he was still iffy on whether to trust the male, for his own reasons, or not.

A silent glance with Kaldur let the redhead know that he too was thinking along the same lines.

"Aside from me really not wanting this position?" Rokuro asked straightening out his jacket sleeves. "I figure it necessary to ask for both yours and Aqualad's help." Stopping in his stride Rokuro turned to face both males. "The both of you have worked longer with the members of Young Justice for obvious reasons. As the…team leader on this mission I would like for each members potential to not be hindered by my inexperience in working with them."

"So what you are asking is guidance in how to work with the team."

"Work with and divide it the best way possible. The only real talent I have is hand to hand combat and street smarts. The detective work was left for my partner when we worked together on cases. I'm not savvy with technology or science, nor can I use magic, and no super human strength. As you both heard this matter can be very catastrophic if not taken care of properly and in the shortest time possible."

Nodding his head in understanding Kaldur agreed. "I will help you to the best of my ability. We have never worked together before so it would be best to remain upfront with one another. How exactly did you come across this mission?"

"If you heard then-"

"Your story, as believable as it may be," Roy cut in "is a load of crap. Batman and the others may have bought it, but we aren't biting. You knew about those items even before hearing about them from that gang member. I'm pretty sure you were looking for them even before that as well."

"That," Rokuro said evenly leveling both Red Arrow and Kaldur a look that said for them not to continue questioning him, "Can be saved for another time, preferably Sunday when we are to meet. There are a lot of things with this matter that I cannot disclose for a number of reasons, but what you need to know you will."

Turning to restart his walk to the Zeta room Rokuro continued to talk over his shoulder. "I know it may seem too much right now for me to ask you all of that, but I want to remain up front and, Frank, with you all. You aren't going to know everything about this simple as that. Whether you trust to work with me afterwards is up to all of you."

"I," Kaldur turned to Red Arrow who nodded his head, "We will trust you on this Rokuro. I did not mean to undermine you, but the members of this team are like family."

"You are only looking out for that family, I understand fully." Stopping once again to let the other two catch up Rokuro turned yet again. "I'm not here to endanger any of you and in all honesty if I had the power do this by myself I would. This isn't your's or the Leagues problem nor should it be of any immediate concern to you all, but I need the help."

"There is a popular saying among my village back home. Eat alone and starve, Drink alone and be thirsty. [1]

"Thank you both." With that said Rokuro bid them both a good night before exiting through the beam.

_**Recognize Rokuro C09**_

"What do you think?" Kaldur asked Red Arrow once the male had left.

"I think he has a lot of explaining to do Sunday. If he doesn't want to tell the League right away then fine…but we need to know."

"I agree friend. Take care till then."

"You too."

_**Recognize Red Arrow B06**_.

Kaldur turned back to rejoin the others with the mission on his mind. With the information they had heard and what was to come he prayed that everything would go well. _Neptune watch over us all_.

End

[1]- Quoted from the movie Dance of the Drunken Mantis (Drunken Fist). Great movie and even better fight scenes. Will be using more quotes from this in the future.

**Next time on Effects of Black and White**

Dropping down into his chair Batman sighed heavily before removing his cowl running his hand through his dark hair. Why was dealing with teens so hard? He could fight Joker a million times, go toe-to-toe with Poison Ivy and even answer the one of the most mundane riddles from the Riddler but to deal with a teenage kid…was he even half this hard for Alfred he wondered.

"Tylenol Sir?" Speak of the man.

"Won't be necessary Alfred. Thank you." Straightening up Bruce placed his hand to the com link in his ear waiting for the person on the other line to pick up. It didn't take long. "Before you even start," Bruce said once the call was picked up, "I need you to meet me at the café, and bring Queen with you."

Not a pause was left before the voice on the other line chirped. "What did you do this time?"

Letting loose a small growl Bruce ran his hand through his hair yet again. "Disagreement."

"Again?" The question was said with no real answer needed. Bruce could practically feel the other male shaking his head. "I'll be over in a flash," he said before the line went dead.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer- I do not own Young Justice yadda yadda blah lah blah.

Note- Roy's mouth is on fire this chapter. Nothing too bad is said but yea. Jus' a li'el warnen'

BAT FIGHT!

As always thank you for the Reviews/Story Alerts, and Favorites they are always appreciated. XD

**Misere**- Glad you like him, lol. He's growing on me. He'll pop up again…eventually. I will take the cookie and raise you a chapter with cookies. Lol. XD

**Timexgone23**- You are amazing! Now finish my pirates story or I'm hunting you down and gutting you like a fish! XD

Chapter 9

**Thursday night**

Riding in the Bat Mobile was a bit stifling for Robin at the moment. The older male who was driving the black machine had yet to say a single word since they had left the cave. He personally didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. Bad that it was a sign the older male was still peeved at them not listening to his word, now twice in the same week. Good because in all honesty, he didn't feel like he could hold a conversation with the male and not blow up on him.

It took fifteen minutes to get to the cave, a new record in Robin's book. Hopping out of the passenger side seat he bid Bruce a quick "see ya" and Alfred a "hello" before disappearing off into his room. Tossing his sunglasses onto his bed the rest of his clothes followed before he grabbed a towel hopping into the shower.

There were a lot of things racing through his mind at the moment from the botched mission to the new one they had been given. He could say a lot about the timing of it all especially after finding the locket in that room. He wasn't a firm believer in chance, feeling like a lot of things happened for a reason, but this was just too much. But for whatever reason Bruce still should have given him a heads up. How would he have liked it if Alfred had kept something from him about them?

Washing the shampoo out of his hair he let the passing idea of having Wally's superspeed for a day. Half his internal problems probably could have been solved if he could think at the speed of sound, although that would get annoying after some point. Wally had told him as much. If he were a telepath like M'gann he could have just read Bruce's mind to figure what was going on in that gloomy head of his. The invasion of privacy, however, wouldn't sit right with him, no matter how much he _needed_ to know. Then there was Zatanna's magic. Saying a spell to get the man to talk would have been easy enough. The bat owed it to him to be up front and tell him without being forced.

Sighing Dick turned off the water and stepped out of the shower wrapping a towel around himself. About to reach for a smaller one for his hair he noticed the clean clothes on the little shelf just at the shower next to the toilet. Alfred still knew him so well. Maybe he should have run by his thoughts with the butler. He knew the older male had put up with Bruce and his shenanigans the longest out of anybody.

Entertaining the thought for a bit longer Dick got dressed and headed back to his room to go work on his homework that he had blatantly put off until then. Seeing as it was only a five page reflection paper _on A Tale of Two City's_ he would be finished in…forty-five minutes. Give or take a few minutes.

Having done three pages in just a little under thirty minutes Dick lent back away from his laptop cracking his neck. Just two pages left. He could get away with keeping the last page between a quarters length or so. What teacher actually wanted to read exactly five pages from any student given the fact that there were 27 other students in his class? Yeah…no. He'd give his teacher a break…this time.

Delving into his fourth page he was this time interrupted by a knock at his door. "It's open Alfred."

Turning in his chair Dick gave a short wave to the elder British man as he opened the door, staying just at the pane. "Master Richard, Master Bruce wishes to speak with you downstairs."

"Alright I'll be there in a few seconds Alfred." Turning back to his laptop he quickly saved his progress before shutting the laptop and leaving his room. "Oh and Alfred," Dick said catching up to the older male.

"Yes Master Richard."

"How many times do I have to tell you just to call me Richard, Dick even?"

"As of right now sir, 8,567 times."

Glaring playfully at Alfred the black haired boy shook his head, "You're proud of yourself for knowing that?"

This got the butler to crack a smile, "Why Master Richard I have no clue as to what you mean."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Dick said before running off to the cave. "8,568," he called behind him.

Reaching for a little book in his breast pocket Alfred opened it to the last page of writing before closing it. "I do believe Master Richard is right."

-X-

"You want to tell me why you disobeyed my instructions. _Again_?"

Rolling his eyes Dick crossed his arms and lent his body against the cave wall. On entering the cave he had been faced with a less than pleased Batman. _Nothing new there_. "I know we already talked about the mission last night Bruce, this was just for a little fun. It won't happ-"

"That," Batman said cutting of his ward, "Is not what the discussion is about. I gave specific instructions to stay out of the rooms upstairs."

Narrowing his eyes at the older male Dick counted to five slowly before opening his mouth. "And why exactly is that Bruce? Don't you think I had every right to know what was in that room?"

"And you _would_ have been informed-"

"Would have," Dick asked raising a brow. "When _what_ Bruce?" Dick was getting annoyed at the older male taking his time. So upfront when giving missions and yet he couldn't be when he was asked a simple question. "When I disobey you and go and do it myself or when an apparent mission we are given just so happens to be linked with a few of the things there? If we didn't botch that first mission the other night and I hadn't gone into that room when would you have told me?"

"When you were older and could clearly handle the things in that room. There is a lot more that you do not know about and it will remain that way until the information can be sorted out. Between that and your recent actions these past weeks have not been highly favorable."

"_Highly favorable_? Bruce I'm thirteen. What, you want me to be all mopey and depressing like you are 24/7?"

"I expect you to act with discretion and use your head to think. If you cannot handle following simple instructions during a mission how do you expect to-"

"Because this isn't a mission Batman." The teen expressed with a frown, "This is something that we could have sorted out together, but you want to go all _solo bat_ and not tell me anything. What else aren't you telling me Bruce? It's been four years. I'm sure you found the name of the guy who killed my parents. Are you not telling me that too?"

Glaring down at his young ward Batman was going to give him his fair warning as he intended to end the conversation. He wasn't old enough to know the exact depths at how far the things in that room could do more harm than good…if not handled right. "You are not ready."

"So I can fight crime staring at the age of nine, but I can't be told about my parents Bruce?" Not wanting to say anything that could possibly damage their relationship more at the moment Dick turned and walked away.

"Old crotchety lying son of a…probably acting like that cause you haven't got laid in the past three weeks," Dick mumbled underneath his breath as he headed back to his room.

"Excuse me?"

"I **said** I'm going over to Wally's."

"I don't believe I gave you permission to-"

"I didn't ask for it," Dick cut off the man disregarding the fierce bat glare he received for talking back. Normally he would care, but not with him acting like a class A jackass. Before Bruce could say anything else Dick had disappeared into the shadows of the cave.

Dropping down into his chair Bruce sighed heavily before removing his cowl running his hand through his dark hair. Why was dealing with teens so hard? He could fight Joker a million times, go toe-to-toe with Poison Ivy and even answer the one of the most mundane riddles from the Riddler, but to deal with a teenage kid…was it even half this hard for Alfred he wondered.

"Tylenol Sir?" Speak of the man.

"That won't be necessary Alfred. Thank you." Straightening up Bruce placed his hand to the com link in his ear waiting for the person on the other line to pick up. It didn't take long. "Before you even start," Bruce said once the call was picked up, "I need you to meet me at the café, and bring Queen with you."

Not a pause was left before the voice on the other line chirped. "What did you do _this time_?"

Letting loose a small growl Bruce ran his hand through his hair yet again. "Disagreement."

"Again?" The question was said with no real answer needed. Bruce could practically feel the other male shaking his head. "I'll be over in a flash," he said before the line went dead.

-X-

_Finally_, Roy thought to himself as he plopped down onto his old worn sofa. He could relax and enjoy the quietness of the night while it lasted. The terror twins would be over in about 20 hours meaning headaches from arguing and laughing too hard. As long as he didn't have to hang any of them from the balcony like last time he was good. Roy was pretty sure Wally was still a bit sour about that. He wouldn't have dropped the speedster, really he wouldn't…At least not from the third floor, maybe the second but the third floor, no…he wasn't evil like Batman.

Picking up his remote Roy was about to click on the TV when a single sound destroyed his soon to be peaceful night.

_Ding Dong_

"Who the hell…?" Deciding to ignore it, they'd go away eventually, Roy sat back deeper into his sofa before the bell went off again….and again…and again…and again…Growling he got up and walked over to the door, pressing the answer button on the call box. "What!"

"Ruin your beauty sleep Raggedy Ann?"

_Rob?_ Rolling his eyes, which he was sure the mini-bat could in fact feel he pressed the button to buzz his youngest friend in.

Opening his door he waited just outside his doorway for the male. Being in the middle of the apartment complex on the third floor of a six floor building had some of its perks. You didn't have to hear everyone and their mom entering and leaving the building 24/7. At the moment the downside was waiting for guests to get their tail up the few flights and through the doors separating the hallways.

"Hey," was all Robin said once he made it to Roy's apartment sliding past the older male to the living room.

Looking down at his watch Roy pulled out his phone just to make sure the time was right. Yep. It was indeed Friday…1:27 a.m. to be exact. Just shy of 20 hours from when he was supposed to actually be here. Rolling his eyes and closing his door after checking to see where the speedster was he walked past the kitchen back into the living room where Robin was already seated. Normally he wouldn't have felt anything wrong. This ,however, wasn't a normal situation.

There was no loud redhead in tow, he rang the bell and actually _WAITED_ instead of picking the lock's to get in…and he said 'Hey'…No snarky comment, no crack at his hair or his mood…not even a crack about him not having a hot date. Narrowing his eyes Roy entered his living room and studied the younger male.

"You want to talk about something?" Roy took in the bag sitting at the younger boy's feet and the slouched way he sat down in the chair; his hands holding his head, elbows resting on his knees.

Sighing when he got no answer Roy went back to the kitchen, grabbed a glass, filled it with water and walked back into the living room. Setting it down in front of Robin on the coffee table Roy sat down next to the dark haired male. Leaning his head back on the head rest Roy closed his eyes and waited. Either Rob would open his mouth and tell him why he was there or Wally would show up and tell him for him. Not even three seconds after getting that thought out did the bell ring yet again.

Standing up Roy walked over to the com and without even seeing who was at the door buzzed the person in before taking back his position next to the silent 13 year old.

"What took you so long?" Roy asked the younger redhead after he closed the door and entered the living room.

Holding up a plastic bag in one hand Wally plopped down on the floor in front of Roy and Dick depositing the bag on the coffee table. "My aunt baked these earlier, wanted me to bring them over for later tonight. Said she was sure you were skinner the last time she saw you."

"The cookies are always appreciated," Roy said with a slight smile that quickly disappeared a second later. "But anyway," Roy said setting his arm on the sofa behind Robin poking him in the repeatedly in the shoulder. Giving his best glare (which by the standards of Dick, "needed work") he turned to face the youngest member of the room, "Care to explain?"

Sighing Dick ran his hands through his hair. _Might as well just get it over with_…Taking off his sunglasses he turned his body to face Roy who at the moment looked like he had stopped breathing. Rolling his blue eyes he smirked at his older friend. "You might want to pick your jaw up off the ground Raggedy Ann."

"Did you just?" Looking down at Wally who was less surprised by the birds boldness returned his gaze to the black haired male sitting next to him. "Did he just?"

"Yes." Both males said to the older redhead.

"I think I need a drink," Roy said making to get up, but was stopped by Wally.

"You're going to want to be sober when you hear this."

"Well it better be a good freaking reason why he…and you knew about this didn't you?" Roy accused rounding on the green eyed male.

"Details, details, just sit back and listen," Wally said patting Roy's leg. Getting up and making his way to the other side of the coffee table crossing his legs underneath, he reached back for the bag of cookies and began to slowly chow down.

Bringing his full attention to the youngest in the room yet again Roy waited for Robin to speak.

Dick had by then placed his sunglasses on the table and reached for the bag he had brought with him. Sitting it on his lap he began from the beginning why he was sitting on his friend's sofa, almost a day earlier than planned. Anytime he needed to clarify something or would get chocked up, Wally was there to finish the sentence. Roy just sat next to his little brother intensely listening to every word he said.

Thirty minutes, a few tissues, and two more glasses of water later Dick had finished telling Roy everything he could. The older males face was pulled into a scowl this time for all new reasons. He could halfway imagine how Dick felt having lost his biological father and then his surrogate at rather young ages.

"And you got into the fight with Batman, uh, Bruce…because he kept all of this from you." It wasn't a question Roy posed as he reached for the locket and photo displayed out on the table next to the bag of cookies.

Sighing yet again, he seemed to be doing that a lot as of late, Roy picked up the picture on the coffee table studying it. Like Wally he could tell the resemblance of the kid and his father right away. He wouldn't blame him for being pissed at the Bat.

He damn sure was.

"Pretty much yea," Dick said with a shrug. Obviously he was still trying to get it together after telling Roy in one shot about his family. "I had a right to know all of this. He knows how important my family is to me."

"Told him as much as he wouldn't like to hear it, Bruce had his reasons."

"And those would be? Look Adults say that, sure whatever, but then shit like this happens. It's better to be upfront and leave out the bull."

"And I completely agree with you, for the most part, but should you be the one saying that?"

Roy shot the younger redhead a glare.

"I'm just saying that you and talking in the same sentence normally doesn't sound right."

"What do you think I'm doing now?"

"Dude, we're your brothers. Of course you're supposed to talk to us. Now that doesn't mean you would do the same with Ollie."

Roy was seriously going to add Wally to his list of people to line up and shoot if they brought up how he should **talk** with Oliver…_AGAIN_! First Dinah and Barry, then Hal and Shiera…Batman and Superman had the nerve, and now Wally!

"The guy's a jerk."

"Not what you were saying three years ago."

"Can it Usain Bolt."

"You first Legolas."

"Who are you calling a prissy elf you sugar high-"

"Alright Lucille and Mark, [1] chill before the cops are called for a domestic dispute."

Dick chuckled at the twin glares he received from his two best friends. Both calmed down at the fact he was actually cracking jokes again…at their own expense of course, but then he wouldn't be the black haired step-child of the family if he didn't.

"You always talk to Barry mister _in-tune-with-my-feelings_?"

Before Wally could get anything out around the cookie he was munching on Dick had beat him to the punch. "No…" Dick said smirking evilly. "He showed up to the manner in the middle of the night one time after a fight with Barry crying and-"

"That was only once." Wally sent a glare to Roy effectively shutting him up. "It's because we didn't hear each other out that things had gotten so bad. Now we talk, at least after cooling down first. Doesn't take long though being us."

Rolling his eyes Roy sat back into the sofa. "So should I talk to good old Bruce now or-"

"Don't."

"Why not? It'll only take a few seconds."

"He's not home anyway," Wally cut in popping in his third cookie. When neither male voiced anything he looked up to see both of them staring at him. "I may have stopped by the cave to let Alfred know where you were going to be. He stated quote "Master Bruce has gone out for the time being, but your telling me is most appreciated Master Wallace," end quote. Seriously you need to tell the man to drop the master. I'm only sixteen for crying out loud."

Leave it to the Speedster to lighten a dimming mood. Cracking a smile Dick looked back down at the locket in his hands running his fingers over the black opal in its center. "That's not all we wanted to talk about though."

Handing over the locket Dick sat up further in the seat. "Do you have that picture Bruce gave you earlier…The one of the gun?"

"Yea, give me a second." Taking the locket up into one hand he disappeared off into his room before coming back. Plopping back down on to the sofa Roy unfolded the photo and looked at it. "Now what is it that I'm supposed to…oh…Okay."

Setting down the picture and handing the locket back to Dick, Roy rubbed his face tiredly. This was just too much, he could only guess as to how Dick was feeling about all of this.

"This was your mom's?" Roy questioned trying to recall what Dick had said when he and Wally had ventured into the room.

"We think so at least," Dick said opening the locket. Running his fingers along the dragon banged into the metal there hadn't been a picture inside. There's a possibility that the book we found is a diary, but at the moment it's not certain."

"Well why don't you read it?"

"What part of_ it's in Chinese_ didn't you understand?"

"Thought the Bat would have taught you that by now. Why not give it to…never mind."

"We do have a walking translator on the team now," Wally said eating his fourth cookie. Man he was on a good roll tonight. Who said he couldn't be considerate of others.

"That is true." Flipping the TV on Roy ran quickly through the channels trying to find something they could use as background noise. Stopping on AMC's Walking Dead he set the control back down on the arm of his sofa before picking up the book and skimming through it. While most of it had been written in Chinese characters there had been parts within the middle of the sentences written out with Latin letters what was it called again…pinying? Didn't mean it was any more readable to him.

"I mean sure the book might not have anything to do with it but how much do I really know about my parents? All of this-hey!" Dick rubbed his head where a penny had assaulted him just seconds before. Glaring at the redhead on the floor it soon turned into a smirk when he say Wally sign 'Till the wheels fall off.'

Shaking his head the mini-bat sat further into the sofa feeling marginally better than he had when he first left for Roy's. Whether Bruce was going to act like a jerk or not he had his two best buds to help him through this. It would take him a while longer to be okay but for now he could deal.

"So, what'd we miss?"

"When Kaldur and I had our talk with Rokuro we made it clear we knew he was holding back some things."

"We got that too," Dick said placing the locket back into the bag. "I want to bring this up to him, but to trust him enough on how-"

"It's not going to happen," Roy finished. "He told us himself that there were things he wasn't going to spill about the mission. What that means is everything is on a need to know basis. That goes both ways."

"The best lies have some truth in them," Wally said closing the aluminum foil wrapping around the cookies. "That's how Rokuro was able to bypass a lot of scrutiny from most of the League members. Maybe not Batman, but I'm pretty sure everyone else bought his story, as many holes that were in it at least."

"How you want to bring up the information is up to you Dick," Roy said leaning further into the sofa. He was going to have to get used to saying the younger males real name now. He'd also maim them both later for keeping that away from him for so long.

"With Bruce don't worry about it too much, the guy acts like he has the emotional capacity of a wet rock, but he does care about you. Adults mess up, it's just part of the territory. He'll come around."

All he got was a noncommittal shrug from the younger male. Setting the remote back down onto the table Roy turned to the TV. "So how long do you both plan on staying?"

"Thinking 'till Sunday."

"Don't you have school in a few hours?"

"Details."

Both redheads shared a look with each other before turning to Dick who was otherwise preoccupied with a person getting their face eaten by a walker to care.

No doubt things were going to get more complicated before they got better.

-X-

_Meanwhile_

Bruce walked into the café immediately spotting the two males that he had called for the meeting. It was late so by now the place was relatively empty besides an old couple, nobody to really notice Gotham's own play boy and Star City's billionaire/former mayor sitting with a relatively unknown male in their company.

Slipping into the table next to Oliver he quickly ordered a glass of water before giving the other two males a calculated once over. One seemed beyond pissed while the other calm as a sunny summer day. Thinking maybe he should have talked to Dinah and possibly even Wonder Woman instead, he was brought out of his brooding by Queen.

"Are you going to tell me why I got dragged away from my date Doom and Gloom because _Thousand Miles _over here has been oddly quiet?" Ignoring the ever rare glare from the Speedster, Oliver crossed his arms over the table and turned his head slightly to look at the darker haired male.

"He got into another argument with Richie." Shrugging at the male across the table and disregarding the Bat glare Barry continued knowing that Bruce wasn't going to be forthcoming with the information anyway. "And now he wants our help to figure out how to deal."

Nodding his head in understanding Oliver clapped Bruce on the back. "Tough break; I see why you called the mother of all hens over here, but why me?"

Taking a sip from his glass of water Bruce gave them the shorthand version of the story mostly figuring that if anything Barry would get more information from his nephew while Oliver would probably get an earful from Roy at some point or another. He could already feel that headache coming back.

"That is pretty tough, but you do have to understand he's still young. How would you feel if things like that were being kept from you?"

"And I am to believe you tell Wally everything."

"No, but the things that he is entitled to know he does - even when we feel it's best to keep those things away from them."

"He's not saying that you're wrong pal just that you should talk with the kid. Might not be your best forte, however, it doesn't hurt to try."

"That work for you with Roy?"

"_Ouch_."

"No, _not_ talking is what did it. You have to think about it he's a lot older too, round that age where they start smelling themselves, so to speak. Between that and the temperament of the parties involved can make or break a relationship. What are you snickering at _Thousand Miles_?"

Putting down his cup of coffee Barry smirked at the other Blonde. "You've been hanging around Dinah _way_ too long."

"Excuse me Mister married life. How long has it been now? Five years?"

"Six years, six months, two weeks, one day," he checked his watch, "two hours, twenty-seven minutes and sixtee-seventeen seconds." Looking up with a smirk on his face it grew wider at Oliver and Bruce's facial expressions. "I can count down to the micro-second if you want."

"Are you proud of yourself knowing all of that?" Oliver asked before Bruce could even add anything.

"Proud and loving every second of it William. [2]"

"Yeah, okay."

"Besides," Barry said leaning his chin on his palm, elbow on the table. "Wally and I communicate just fine."

"So what," Oliver asked leaning further over the table pushing his water out to the corner. "You and Thousand Miles junior have never had an argument? Not even once?" Oliver asked with disbelief lining his voice.

"No they have," Bruce said, a knowing and dark smirk forming across his face. "He just calls me crying-"

"That," Barry interrupted rounding his glaring blue gaze onto Bruce, "was once when the kid decided to run away. In the middle of a storm mind you." He shot the glare to Oliver effectively getting to stifle his laughter. "We've gotten into disagreements plenty of times sure, who hasn't, but we calm down and talk about things afterwards."

Shrugging and taking another sip of his coffee Barry continued, "Helps when you're us though. Find the bigger picture a lot faster."

"Yea…Uh huh…"

Bruce shook his head at the antics of his company.

"Listen Doom and Gloom," Oliver said trying to ignore the second glare of the night he received from the Bat. He swore if looks could kill. "Rich is a good kid, just give him some time. He'll come around and when he does talk to him. Like actually _talk_. If there are things that you can't tell him at the moment then be up front with him, but don't keep back anything that can help the kid out. I messed up with Roy and now I'm paying for it."

"He, like you, is just being stubborn. Really it's funny how alike you all are."

"You're talking?"

"All I'm saying," Barry said with another shrug, "Is that with the way he acts and talks when your name is mentioned, it's pretty clear he's already past it, but doesn't want to admit that he was wrong too."

"And how do you know that?"

"Roy was over at my place two weeks ago. You can tell by the way he talks about you that he still cares. He may not show it, but he's a young man and that's how they act."

"It's kind of hard to picture you as brooding at any age."

This got a laugh out of the Speedster and a low chuckle from the Dark Knight.

"I'm just that awesome a person."

"You wonder why we don't congratulate you ever," Oliver said with a smirk.

"He does enough of that himself."

Oliver's drink almost ended up across the table for two reasons. The Dark Knight had just cracked a joke and the look on the Speedsters face.

Mumbling something under his breath Barry chuckled and let it go. Things with Bruce and Dick would work itself out soon enough. That he was sure of. The man may have acted like an emotionally unadapt human being, but both blonds knew otherwise.

-X-

**Friday Morning**

3:27 a.m.

A single guard walked down an otherwise empty hallway with nothing but a flashlight and handgun. Humming a tune to himself he continued down the hallway checking every door to make sure that they were in fact closed and locked up as they should be.

Strolling further down the hallway the guard stopped dead in his tracks. One of the rooms was unlocked, the door slightly ajar. Narrowing his eyes the guard stepped to the side of the room just at the door counted to three and kicked it the rest of the way open. With his gun and flashlight pointed before him he burst through.

"Fre-GAH! DEMON!"

The guard fell on his backside frightened by what stood before him.

Standing /floating, the guard couldn't tell, in the middle of the room was the head of a demon. The moonlight given from the full moon shone off it creating an even more ominous look about it. Glowing red eyes, paper white skin that was streaked with green lines under the eyes, its mouth was formed into a permanent growl, curved fangs protruding down to its lower lip. There was no body, just the head, a black straw hat placed on top its head.

The guard was too petrified to move, even get up as the demons head seemed to be floating closer to him at an alarming rate.

That's when it hit him. While coming towards him the figure had passed through the previously dropped and forgotten flashlight for just a second. That second was all the guard needed to know that the figure was in fact not a bodiless demon, but a human. Reaching for his gun he shook off his fear and took aim at the retreating figure. Firing off three rounds the guard picked up his flashlight and pointed it down the hallway.

_Nothing? Could I have been imagining things?_ The guard thought to himself walking slowly down the hallway, his gun still in firing position. Aiming the flashlight everywhere possible he stopped on the left wall. Midway up was a splash of red liquid…blood. The boss would not like this news one bit. Sighing he did the only thing he could think of. He just hoped that Ueda didn't feel like shooting the messenger.

End

**Next Time on Effects of Black and White**

**F-bombs will fly next chapter. **–Someone needs to give Ueda a thesaurus for his birthday.

"All I'm saying," Ueda said over the phone trying and failing horribly to keep the annoyance out of his voice, the hand with his cigar shaking from anger. "Is that the next person who infiltrates a facility of mines, is _getting their head taken off with my gun_! Calm down? Who the _fuck_ are you telling to calm down? Has someone hit your facility in the past month…TWICE!...Didn't think so. No, the one in America you Bakayaro!"

Notes-

[1] Lucille Ball, star of I Love Lucy, and Mark Twain author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Both famous red-heads. Like Wendy and Raggedy Ann. XD.

[2] William Tell, Folk-hero of Switzerland. Expert marksman with the crossbow.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Own Young Justice, I do not. Did, I wish I. References to other shows and movies are merely that. References do not own them either. Yada yada blah blah blah.

Feel like this one's a bit shorter than my last chap and not a lot really going on. Don't want to speed through the plot but I feel like it's going a bit slow….eh. It'll work itself out.

**A/N**: Thanks for the favs, story alerts and reviews. Always appreciated.

**Timexgone23**-Thanx as always chica. Arguing with a Bat is like trying to figure out why people wear flipflops and socks. I do it…I just don't see the sense…and u better had. Glad I could make an impact on ur life. Bwuahahahahahaha. XD. P.S.S BOUT TIME YOU GOT IT UP! Giggidy! XD

**Alex Skywalker**- Thanks for the review. Always appreciated. I was beaming the whole time reading ur review. Lol. That was by far my fav chapter to write. With the way things are going between the two Bat's we may be seeing more of those scenes to come.

**P.S.S** New Player to the field?

**Friday Morning **

_I GOT SUNSHINE ON A CLOUDY DAY! WHEN IT'S CO-_

"Baka-ka[1]…It better be raining lollipops, the moon blown the hell up and you possessed by Oda freaking Nabunaga to have woken me up at 3:45 in the Kami[2]-damn morning!" With each word Dante's voice grew in volume as he spoke into his cell phone. Eyes narrowing, the male slowly sat up as the news of his facility was relayed to him. "And you thought it was a demon... Did you collect any blood samples? Oh, by the time you got back there it was gone…So tell me," Ueda said now on his feet pacing his floor, "What drugs were you on before you came to work?"

He paused in his rant as the man on the other line began to babble half-incoherently. "You really think I would shoot you?…eh…the in competency level of my men has been slipping…always a possibility…No…You know what, Mitsuhide, no, I won't shoot you. I apologize. I shouldn't have yelled. Take the rest of the week off okay, full pay. Go out with the wife and take the grandkids…No, no…Thank you. You've worked with me for the past sixteen years it's the least I could do. Take care. Sayonara."

Pressing the end call button on his cell Dante placed it into his pajama pants pocket before walking over to his desk drawer and withdrew a cigar and lighter. Putting it to his lips he lit it before taking a few long drags to calm his nerves…Two cigars later he retracted his phone and punched in a well-remembered number, waiting for the other line to pick up all the while dragging on his fourth cigar.

"Don't Moshimoshi me, this is not the time for your little pleasantries Kaito. I just got a call from Mitsuhide. My factory had a visitor this morning…Some mask wearing walking soon to be dead man…It wasn't because she wouldn't dare…No I haven't found out what they took yet it just happened…"

Placing the cigar on his ash tray Dante pinched the bridge of his nose letting out an exasperated sigh.

"All I'm saying," Dante said over the phone trying and failing horribly to keep the annoyance out of his voice, "Is that the next person who infiltrates a facility of mine is _getting their head taken off with my gun_! Calm down? Who the _fuck_ are you telling to calm down? Has someone hit your facility in the past month…TWICE!...Didn't think so. No, the one in America you Bakayaro!"(dumb-arse)

"I don't care if it is those Justice League- tight-wearing-holier-than-thou bastards. What can Batman do? The only reason why he and his band of merry men know anything is because we allow it…You did WHAT!...8:30…a.m. you bakayaro…No words can amount for how much I hate you right now…Kutabare.[3]"

For the second time that morning Dante ended a call with someone, all without threatening to end a life…for the most part. This was turning into a bigger headache than the male thought. The longer this stayed out of earshot of Lady Lei the better for both him and Kaito.

-X-

Having woken up at 6 to make sure both the Speedster and Mini-bat were up and at least halfway ready for school, Roy had dragged himself back into bed telling them to wake him when they were actually on their way out. Not soon after he had fallen back into dream land did they knock and bid him goodbye for the next few hours. Knowing they'd probably head back to his place before hitting up the cave the older redhead had set his alarm clock knowing full well it wouldn't be the blaring radio to wake him.

Sure enough a few hours later Roy woke up to the sun blaring in his face, birds chirping incessantly right outside his window. If he didn't know any better he'd have thought they made their nest right on the sill. He'd check later…Maybe. Checking the clock he groaned, _It's only_ _12:45?_ Rolling over he placed his pillow over his head the talk from that morning already playing over in his head.

Maybe it would have been better to keep the little bird home for the day. The last thing anyone really needed was to go to school after a late night like that. The kid had taken after both redheads in that aspect. One of the few times Roy wished he hadn't. Sighing Roy threw the pillow from his head before rolling out of his comfy cloud of a bed.

Heading to the bathroom he picked up his phone on the way checking it. Two missed calls, one from Dinah, the other from _He who must not be named_. Erasing that one he decided he'd call Dinah later. Knowing her it was either about Ro-Dick or his "Need to talk" to the Blonde mustached archer.

Tossing his phone backwards onto his bead he made his way to the shower.

He would definitely be needing that drink. It was 5o'clock somewhere.

-X-

Kaldur found it a relatively quiet day for himself. He had just gotten to the cave after spending some time with his King and Lady. She was due to give birth within the next month or so and he could not deny to feeling joyous of the occasion. He had spent the whole day helping the maids with preparations not shying away from the 'woman's work dragging Garth along with him.

It was just around 1, meaning that Robin and Artemis would be at the cave in about an hour or so, Raquel, Zatanna, and Wally some time in between 3:30 and 4 – the Speedster probably much later. He couldn't quite remember if M'gann had cheer practice or not, but whether she and Conner were there or not it was usually quiet anyway.

He hadn't had a good day by himself at the cave in a long time to finish his newest book, _Tuesday's With Morrie_. It was turning out to be his favorite one so far next to _The Night_ by Elie Wiesel. Wally had read both for his English class before starting the book from hell…_Crime and Punishment_…saying it was probably what was going to save his grade that year. He could see why.

Kaldur managed to read two words of the page before the automated voice sounded.

**Recognize Rokuro C09.**

Placing his book down remembering the page number by heart (he learned long ago to never use a bookmark around the terror twins less you want to re-read a chapter multiple times) he headed down to the Zeta room.

It didn't take long before he ran into the male who had a slight lost expression on his face.

Kaldur was met with a sight he wouldn't have thought possible especially with the way the male carried himself. Rokuro was completely dressed down in a pair of baggy blue jeans complete with holes in the knees, black sneakers and dark purple oversized hoodie. He wore black fingerless gloves and a pair of black rimmed corrective lenses. His hair, which had seemed relatively short was actually long enough to be pulled back into a low bun at the nape of his neck.

"Hello Rokuro," Kaldur greeted the older male. A short bow was his reply back. _Is he still perturbed by yesterday I wonder,_ Kaldur thought as he fell into step with their temporary team leader.

"I have business with Batman for a moment, but afterwards if I may talk to you about yesterday."

Glancing at the male wondering just what business he would have with Batman, Kaldur shrugged it off for the time being nodding to the male. "Red Arrow is not here, but you or more than welcome to."

"Thank you Kaldur'Ahm." Kaldur didn't hear any malice in the male's short replies, but then again it was hard to tell. He was straight forward with his answers and seemed not lazy with his speech, but…what was it? Guarded? Yes. Just like with his fighting style it was as if his emotions played by the other person.

Kaldur felt like he would have to talk with Black Canary about this observation later. It would be hard to gauge someone when they relied on others to act. It was by far not a trustworthy way of carrying yourself especially when working with a team.

"Um…Kaldur'Ahm?" Rokuro asked, waving his hand slowly in front of the Atlantean's face.

Kaldur blinked back into reality embarrassed by his lack of awareness in front of the older male. Definitely not a good second impression.

"Sorry about that friend. I was thinking about something."

It looked like Rokuro wanted to say something on the matter, but changed his mind. "I was asking if you could take me to the meeting room. I seem to not remember which direction it was."

"It would be no problem," Kaldur said leading him to the room.

The walk was short and quiet, but unlike the night before it wasn't nearly as awkward. Rokuro wasn't as tense walking alongside the Atlantean although the blonde male could tell that he was still on his guard.

Bidding him a thanks and short goodbye Rokuro continued on his way to the meeting room directly down the hall.

Knocking at the door of the meeting room he waited for a response before entering the room, pausing for a second when he locked eyes with the Princess of the Amazons. Bowing to her in greeting he turned his attention to Black Canary. "Is Batman here?"

"You actually just missed him about an hour ago," Black Canary answered the male walking towards him. She wanted to try something noticing his slight pause on entering the room. She hadn't been at any of the previous meetings having been training the Young Justice at the time, but that didn't mean she hadn't heard how they went down from both Oliver and Roy.

The fact that he had remained as tense as he had when they fought the day before let Black Canary know that she wasn't perceived as an immediate threat. Noting that he had paused at seeing Wonder Woman let her know that he felt she, however, was. Not knowing if that was a good or bad thing she pushed that to the back of her mind studying him a bit more. He kept switching the folder he held in his hands back and forth noticing he had done that with his hat before. _Nervous habit_?

"If that," she said pointing to the folder, "Is for Batman, you can leave it with me."

"That would be appreciated," Rokuro said after a moment. "Thank you." Handing off the folder he was about to leave when Black Canary stopped him her hand on his shoulder removing it when he tensed further.

"What happened to your neck?" Black Canary asked spotting the white bandage that covered the left side of Rokuro's neck. It was just barely visible past the fabric of his hoodie. If he were wearing his regular uniform she was sure she wouldn't have caught it at all.

"Just a slight graze from a bullet, nothing more."

Raising her eyebrows at his brush off Black Canary pressed further. "Am I to guess that's the only one?" The manner of which he had spoken about the injury like it was nothing, didn't go unnoticed by the older hero.

"The only one that could have posed fatal."

Sighing Black Canary turned the young male to face her rolling her eyes at the questioning stare she received from him. "Rokuro," Black Canary said retracting her hands, "if you get injured in any way during this mission then you need to come and tell one of us – for your own safety."

Rokuro gave her an unconvinced look making her question his ability to work on the mission given by Batman, at least alone like he had been. "You seem unconvinced."

"Do I? I am curious Black Canary. Do you act this way with all of your students or do you simply act this way because you, like some others," he glanced quickly at Wonder Woman, "Do not feel me capable enough to handle this mission?"

"Because you are working not just on this mission, but on a mission with the Young Justice if you or another member is not in complete health and no one else knows then it can become harmful or deadly to the others."

"In the case of security for the team I would like to report a single bullet wound to the ribs, left side, slight graze, no internal damage. Bullet wound to left arm, extracted, full motion still intact albeit hindered. All have been properly taken care of."

Sharing a look with Wonder Woman the blonde turned back to Rokuro and wanting to ask if he had any military training for such a _straight forward_ description. She internally shook her head opting for another choice. "It's not just for the team's safety, but yours as well. If you go on a mission less than 100% you could get yourself hurt worse or killed."

"Noted," Rokuro said after a slight pause.

"Is there anything else we can help you with?" Wonder Woman asked. She had, per request of the Dark Knight and a few others, kept the bite out of her voice.

Giving the Amazonian a contemplative look Rokuro kept his gaze on her while he spoke. "Actually, yes. I understand that Batman said for our meeting to begin on Sunday, but I would like to take that time to get to know the team if we are to work together. Is there a possibility to begin tomorrow? I will still have the necessary information for Batman, but I feel this is greatly needed."

"As long as they don't have any missions I don't see why not," Wonder Woman said somewhat surprised at his willingness to work with the Young Justice.

"Thank you, both." Turning to leave Rokuro paused when Black Canary called for him to wait a second.

"Tell Crimson Avenger I hope he makes a full recovery. Batman informed us of the accident."

"I will tell him when I see him tonight. Thank you." Giving the older woman a small smile he bid both a good bye before heading off to find Kaldur. Now if he could just remember how to get to the training room.

-X-

Waiting at the door like he had done for Dick the day before, Roy impatiently tapped his foot to a beat-less tune. It never took the kid more than five minutes to get to his apartment.

The hell was he doing?

"Finally," Roy exhaled rolling his eyes at the younger redhead who came jogging down the hallway towards him. "How was school kid?"

"It was just wonderful mother? And how was your day?"

"Seeing as I had to clean up after you little rat-bastards all day, lovely."

"You sure have a way with the kids," Wally said patting the older male on the shoulder and entering his apartment. "Is little Richie here yet. I sure missed him."

"There is something wrong with your brain."

"Actually, now that you mention it I have been feeling a little-"

"Save that talk for Barry."

"…"

"What."

"…"

"What!"

"Anyone ever tell you, you're an ass?"

Closing and locking his door Roy went straight to the fridge taking out a beer. "I make it my mission to get someone to tell me that at least twice a day."

"Hm, and how is that going for you?"

"I've gotten three."

"Over achiever."

Opening the beer Roy placed it to his lips after asking Wally a question. "Going to the cave?"

"Yes," Wally said snatching the beer right from Roy. "And you're coming."

"I think I'll pass," Roy said turning to the fridge to grab another beer. A breeze, red blur, and another wind gust later and he was met with a beer-less fridge. Rounding on the younger redhead Roy glared at him without speaking that he was going to strangle him if he didn't get his liquor back.

Safe, in one piece.

"What part of _I'm. Not. Going_. Did you _not_ understand? Do I have to say it in Speedlanguage for you to understand?"

"Actually yeah, you do," Wally said wearing his signature cocky grin. "Suit up!" Taking off into the bathroom, with the beer in tow he left the older and still sober male in the kitchen.

Turning to go into his room Roy mumbled obscenities underneath his breath. "You watch WAY too much _How I Meet Your Mother_."

"That's what I tell him all the time," Robin said sitting cross legged on the couch already wearing his uniform. The sun was going down so it was pretty safe to go out like this. Besides, people in Star City didn't pay much attention to anything around them. Unless it was a gun to the face, they could care less if you were a two headed zebra wearing a polka dotted afro. [A/N-I NEED to see Madagascar 3.]

Looking down at his gauntlet he sighed. They had about thirty minutes to get to the cave to be…thirty minutes late. Not a new record for Roy when he was expected to be someplace, but for people who liked to be places on time, or at least relatively on time i.e. him and KF then they needed to go like…now. Part of him wasn't all too eager, however, seeing as _he_ might be there.

He hadn't talked to Bruce at all, not even through text. He'd called Alfred earlier to let the older male know that he'd be staying at Roy's again that night, but other than that his phone hadn't gone off. _Typical_, Robin thought scrolling through his computer not really paying anything flashing before him any attention. _He's always expecting people to just bend over backwards for him because he's the damn Batman_. _You would think he was Chuck Norris in a bat suit, but at least he didn't have a huge ego trip, fans did enough of that for him. The guy had his own call signal…__**WHO DOES THAT!**__ Oh that's right, the damn Batman that's who._

_Doesn't matter if he was in the wrong or not because the G-Damn Batman is never wrong. _Robin, whenever he did go back to the manner would have to throw Alfred a huge party for putting up with Bruce's antics for so long. No wonder the male was grey haired and balding – all that stress and probably pulling his own hair out dealing with the truth-obsessed _I-can-do-no-wrong-greatest-detective-that-ever-lived_.

_Screw all that-O_W! "Dude," Robin glared at his best friend. That was the second day in a row that he had been pelted by something random. This time a butterscotch candy…Really? "Butterscotch?"

"I was hanging with Grandma Joan a few days ago. You know older women and their candy." Opening his mouth to speak again he was cut off by a ruthful stare from the younger male.

"No, and I don't plan on it."

"Hey I wasn't even going to – Okay so I was. Listen mini-Roy…Did you hear anything that I said yesterday?"

"Do people ever listen to _anything_ you have to say?" Roy asked stepping out of his room fully dressed.

"Not. _Helping_." Returning his gaze to Robin wiping the glare from his face he sat down next to the brooding mini-bat. They would have to get him to not do that less he turn into Brooding jr. One Doom and Gloom was enough for the whole world.

"Even if it's just to tell him off, without yelling, or cutting him off, then I think you should."

"Thank you Dr. Phil," Roy bit out tossing a sofa pillow at the male's head. Of course he'd duck it. "You're essentially telling a thirteen year old, who has every right to be pissed off, to be the bigger person when the actual adult should already be doing just that."

"Once again I state…Not. Helping. He's already being the bigger person. Some people would have given Bat's a black eye…at least tried to anyway."

About to add to that Roy thought better and headed back to his room. "I'm going to grab my bow and we can leave."

"You did all of that and didn't?" Glaring at the retreating redhead Wally rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I really don't like him."

"Once again…take a number."

"I can still hear you!" Roy called from his room.

"Good. That means your normal."

Stepping out of his room bow in hand Roy narrowed his eyes at the red and yellow clad male. "How so?" He just knew nothing good was going to come out of the speed demons mouth.

"You're hearing is still intact. They say the brain is always the first thing to go with age." Giving a wave Kid Flash moved over to the window, opened it, and sped out all within the span of a few seconds. If he hadn't Robin was sure the male would have either been hung by his feet from the balcony, yet again, or impaled to the wall by the arrow the older redhead had in his hand.

Chuckling Robin got up and exited out of the open window taking to the high ground instead. "People can never just use a freaking…" grumbling Roy went back into his room coming out with a jacket on, threw his bow and arrow into the briefcase near the door, took off his domino mask and left, _through the door_.

"I need to make friends my own age."

-X-

"You have a mission," Black Canary said looking from one student to the next.

Red Arrow, Robin and Kid Flash had just made it to the cave and not two seconds later they had been rounded up by the rest of the team to the briefing room. Black Canary was the only League Member in the room meaning that the others were either at the tower or otherwise occupied. Nobody questioned why it was the Blonde female who gave them the briefing and not the Caped Crusader as was normal for them.

Pulling up the information on the screen Black Canary went through everything from location to what exactly they were to do. She didn't go straight into details rather opting to give them background on the area and historical importance of the mission if they were to be successful.

It had been a simply laid out mission at the City's Museum of East Asian History. An exhibit about the Yellow Emperor was to open that coming Monday, but one of main attractions was going to be the original _I Ching_ making an appearance for just that week. The book was arriving at the museum at 2 that morning by truck shipment, although heavily armed it was still going to be a high target for thieves. It was imperative to make sure it got to the museum safe. After that it should be safe within the museum's vault until its showing. Apprehending any and all people who tried to take off with it was their soul goal.

It wasn't often the book was put on display and even more rare for it to leave its continent of origin. For anything to happen to it at all would be one of the worst possible scenarios especially with past tensions between the two countries.

"Why isn't Rokuro here? Isn't that his area?"

"As of right now," Black Canary said answering Rocket's question. "Rokuro is on another assignment. Crimson Avenger," the teacher continued stopping the younger female from asking anything else, "is on short leave. He personally asked for us to take care of this."

"And you're pawning it off on us?"

"Well Roy if you do a good job on the mission we may let you keep the credit."

Narrowing his eyes at the older woman Roy kept any and all comments to himself knowing that they would get turned against him.

"We form a plan and head out soon," Kaldur said addressing the team.

"This should take all of two seconds," Kid Flash said giving Conner a playful elbow, the taller teen giving him an elbow back in response. He had learned after sending the redhead into the wall the first time just how much to pull back. Wally hadn't been the least bit put off at trying it that same day, after heeling his cracked ribs of course.

Whistling for Wolf he and M'gann headed off after the Atlantean the others following shortly after.

"Robin, hold on for a second." Waving KF and Roy on ahead, Robin made his way back to the older League member.

The male could think of only one thing she'd want to talk about at the moment and he was not feeling it. "Yes?"

"There something you want to talk about?" Black Canary asked the black haired teen. She was met by a stare that gave her the answer. "When you're ready," was all she said before sending him on his way to catch up with the rest of the team.

Shaking her head Black Canary headed back to the meeting room to converse quickly with Red Tornado. This was going to take a long time.

Catching up to Red Arrow and KF he gave them a look telling them everything they needed to know. She wasn't the teams psychiatrist for nothing.

"So," KF said once they had entered the garage, "Anyone else wondering what's up with the Asian motif?"

"The mission we were given to start on Sunday…and the _I Ching_?" Artemis said a bit sarcastically. "No not at all."

"Who are you again?" Kid Flash asked crossing his arms_. One of these days_…

"It would seem like they are connected, but the book was scheduled to be shown months before we even heard of the Whispering Souls," Zatanna spoke putting her own opinion into the mix. "We shouldn't write it off though."

"And we won't."

"What's the plan chief?" Red Arrow asked leaning up against the wall.

Returning their attention back to the matters at hand they began the plan of attack for the mission. Unlike the last one they could not afford to mess this up.

End

Ha ha! Can you say catastrophe if I decide to botch this whole mission? I CAAAAAAN! XD.

**Translations-** Japanese

Baka-ka-Idiot/Dumbass

Kami-God

Kutebare-Go to hell.

**On the next episode of Effects of Black and White**

Tucking into a roll from a relatively high fall Artemis got back to her feet and continued her chase of the figure. Whoever they were they were fast, she'd give them that. Getting to the next building she cursed her luck when it had piping and large smoke stacks spewing steam.

/Just great./ Artemis slowly made her way around the stacks, ducking metal pipes all the while keeping her bow and arrow on standby. Stopping just short of making it to the most open part of the roof she whipped around, shooting her arrow at the male who had been behind her, for how long she had no clue. Flipping away he managed to disappear once again this time using the steam from the smoke stacks as cover.

Choosing not to follow this time she reequipped her bow and waited. She didn't have to wait long as a dart came whizzing towards her. Dodging out of the way yet again she turned into the opposite direction it had came from and shot grinning when she heard the telltale signs of a capture.


	12. Chapter 12

**Ha! XD  
><strong>

**Chapter 10 part 2**

**Thank you Timexgone23. Don't know how long it took me to get this together. As always ur review is refreshing and much appreciated. Thanks again Bakayaro.**

**If anyone had ever played Sly Cooper or found themselves in love with Pirates of the Caribbean then this is then Timexgone23 is the author to go to. They definitely keep you guessing**.

Disclaimer- I do not own Young Justice nor the shows referenced.

**Saturday**

_1:45 a.m_.

Piling into the _Mystery Machine_ (had Scooby Doo on the brain)- ahem, the _Bioship_, the Young Justice headed off to the City, going through their plan of attack a few more times and making sure everyone was up to speed. Getting a clue as to where the truck would be headed from, they decided to follow it in different teams. Finding themselves with an extra man a two man cell was out of the question and instead Kaldur had split them up the best way to complete the mission.

The museum was styled to fit the theme of the place and yet not contrast within the concrete surroundings that every building seemed to be shrouded in. The front was outfitted with two guardian lions on the outside of the huge heavy oak doors. It was layered in the manner of a Buddhist temple, red shingles on every roof with a dome, not unlike that of the _Taj Mahal_ at the top. Pillars held the roof up, four more free standing pillars surrounding the building.

Aqualad decided for it would be best to have the Archers split on either side of museum as the two buildings sandwiching the building were the tallest long range being their strong suits. Miss Martian would stay with the Bioship in stealth over the museum surveying the overhead perimeter with Superboy and Wolf. Because they had no clue as to who would go after the book it would be best to cover all angles and maintain radio silence throughout.

They had dropped Kid Flash and Zatanna off sooner once they spotted the truck leaving both to follow it to the museum and keep an eye out for any suspicious people. Robin, Rocket and he had safely made it into the museum bypassing the security without taking out any of the guards or altering the footage. It would be better to keep all of the museum's internal security measures in tact if things were to go by smoothly.

Exactly at 2 Miss Martian and Superboy witnessed the truck pulling up along the back of the museum, a grey and black blur zipping past it to the next building. A little ways off they saw a figure floating off into the opposite direction.

/The truck is in place,/ Kid Flash called off to the team as a way of letting the team know of the cargo's safety and his positioning.

/Unloading now,/ Zatanna added in not a second sooner.

/Good. Hold your positions./

Turning to Rocket, the Atlantean nodded his head as they separated to opposite sides of the ceiling using the rafters to keep concealed, the acrobat remaining in the middle. The problem now was to make sure it got loaded safely into the museum while keeping an eye on the internal guards. It wouldn't be the first time something was taken through means of an inside job.

Keeping her eyes out over the street Artemis sighed in boredom. It was nice that, for once, they had been given a mission that they could virtually relax on. It sucked because she actually wanted to do something that night. After the last botched mission and her-she still would deny it as a defeat- from Kaito she could say that her pride had some healing to do.

Her internal thoughts were interrupted by Kid Flash. /I have about three trucks over here. Black, possible armed men inside and they are not here to unload./

/Got the message. Zatanna if you are clear aid Kid Flash Everyone else remain- Scratch that Miss Martian, I need you and Superboy inside. Now! Artemis, Red Arrow stay in position./

/Have my own problem to deal with right now,/ Red Arrow answered back.

What the heck was going on? Artemis asked herself notching one of her own arrows She was about to make her way to aid the other archer when movement caught her eyes. Running to catch up to whoever it was she stopped when the figure turned around to face her.

Artemis had seen plenty of people wear full face masks, hello her sister wore a creepy smiling _cat mask_ just about every time they saw each other. This particular one was right there on the freaky scale – it was a white demon mask, the light from the moon giving it an eerie glow along with its red eyes. Green stripes ran down the eyes giving the impression that it was crying. The mouth was formed into a permanent growl, curved fangs protruding down to its lower lip.

From the outfit, most of which was black, she could tell the figure was a male, form fit sleeveless top running up to his neck with grey hakama bottoms that stopped at the beginning of his calf, form fit pants underneath and grey and white toe shoes. His outfit was complete with white hand wraps a black straw hat and open grey sleeveless robe.

_This guy…is an idiot_, Artemis thought to herself taking in his appearance. Her own outfit may not have been the best for defense but she at least had protective padding where it counted. Between that there was no way he would get far wearing those pants knowing they would snag on just about anything and everything, let alone the heaviness and wind drag. _Amateurs_.

Drawing an arrow she kept her eyes on the figure who had yet to move. Good, finally someone who knew they were busted. She hated runners.

"Who are you working for?" The male remained silent and unmoving as Artemis drew her arrow further back. "I'm not going to ask again."

The male slowly put his hands up in the air one at a time. Placing his left hand in the air it continued till he reached his hat, pushing it back off of his head his hand completely disappearing from view at this point. Not taking any chances she shot the arrow having to dodge out of the way of a dart in the process. _This son of a_- Artemis cursed as she began her assault on the male.

Aiming her arrow she took her shot before the male could launch into the air and onto the roof next to their building. Just as it was about to hit, the male spun around a short sword in hand and knocked the arrow to the ground all the while continuing his run to the edge of the building. _Where the hell did he get that_? Artemis cursed before giving chase after the retreating male not going to run the risk of shooting him in mid-air less she wanted to explain why they had to scrape up a suspect from the black top.

Artemis hoped from one roof top to the next. She couldn't stop running to aim less she wanted to lose sight of him altogether. The dark clothes he wore would, given enough time, allow him to slip easily into the many shadows. /I'm in pursuit of someone suspicious now, need back up./

/Affirmative, what is your position?/

/Heading East away from the museum./

/Sending Miss Martian and Rocket./

_Good_, Artemis thought to herself before letting Aqualad know that she had heard him.

Tucking into a roll from a relatively high fall Artemis got back to her feet and continued her chase of the figure. Whoever they were they were fast she'd give them that. Getting to the next building she cursed her luck when it had piping and large smoke stacks spewing steam.

_Just_ _great_, Artemis slowly made her way around the stacks, ducking metal pipes all the while keeping her bow and arrow on standby. Stopping just short of making it to the most open part of the roof she whipped around, shooting her arrow at the male who had been behind her, for how long she had no clue. Flipping away he managed to disappear once again this time using the steam from the smoke stacks as cover.

Choosing not to follow this time she reequipped her bow and waited. She didn't have to wait long as a dart came whizzing towards her. Dodging out of the way yet again she turned into the opposite direction it had come from and shot grinning when she heard the telltale signs of a capture.

Running to the opening of the building Artemis pointed another arrow at the male who was on the ground getting up from breaking the arrow that had embedded itself in his hakama. Shooting her trick net arrow at him she cursed when he jumped out of the way before it could release and trap him. Notching another arrow and taking aim keeping the male on his toes and away from escaping. If she could by enough time for her team capturing him would be a lot easier.

Rolling away from the last arrow he came back up holding a hand full of black darts not unlike the one he had thrown at her not too long ago. Now she could get why he wore the outfit. Concealing weapons would be a lot easier with the robe and pants. Throwing them all at once he moved in close giving Artemis no other option then having to use her bow as a weapon.

Having fought Robin enough times she was well prepared for this blocking his hits with her bow all the while managing to reach for an arrow. Using that as an extra weapon she swung the bow at his head before throwing the arrow down to the ground. Kicking out she backed up allowing the trick arrow to do its work as it released the sleeping gas right into the area where the male stood.

_Nothing_?…_Not even a cough…_She had gotten pissed before when her sister had managed to trick her feigning being knocked out. This guy just stood there like it was regular air he was breathing or was he…She hadn't seen his chest move. _Smart._

Notching another net arrow she released it once again getting pissed when he moved forward she expecting for him to move back like he did the time before. With his tanto in hand once again she had to block it with her bow before blocking another hit this time from his empty hand. He gave her no time to reach for an arrow this time keeping an ongoing assault.

Managing to spin away from the male and kick him away from her she reached behind her and froze. Her hand meeting nothing but air she growled. Straightening up, the male turned to face her, her quiver and arrows in his hand before they went over the side of the building.

Complete violation!

/Where are you guys?/

/Almost there Artemis, got held up by more thugs./

/Just give us like three minutes./

Mumbling underneath her breath she ran at the male engaging him in another fight using her bow to try and knock his head off his shoulders. How the heck did he think it was okay to touch her arrows? Having knocked the tanto out of the male's hand long ago she effectively stopped him from reaching for anymore darts, if he had anymore. Throwing a series of kicks and punches she caught him a few times, though none were fast enough to knock him out or slow him down long enough to deliver a finishing blow.

Managing to land a full combination of shots on the male she smirked when he landed hard on the ground rolling over and slowly getting back to his feet. Swaying a little once fully erect Artemis knew that just a little longer and it would be lights out for the male. In her euphoria she had fallen to what she cursed Wally out on a normal basis: _impulsiveness_.

Dodging a sloppy punch from the male Artemis wasn't expecting his previously slowed movements to pick up. A knee connected straight into her stomach knocking the wind out of her. Keeping hold of her the male brought his elbow to the back of her neck effectively knocking her out. Walking over to his tanto he moved towards the roof door kicked it open and disappeared.

-X-

All of the goons inside of the museum had been rounded together and tied up. In the case of Bane he had been hung upside down as Bat's tended to do to their victims. Kid Flash and Zatanna had managed to get all of their degenerates tied up and thrown into the back of a single truck deflating all of their tires in the process before she was called to help out Artemis. Wanting to have gone in her place (he would have gotten there a lot faster) he opted to zip to the other side of the building to help out Red Arrow who was still very preoccupied with Cheshire…He'd talk to him about that later.

They had swung by to pick up Artemis, Zatanna and Rocket. By then then the blonde archer was awake and back on her feet albeit a bit wobbly. She seemed to not be the only one sporting bruises. Roy was nursing his jaw, Wally rubbing his arm both glued eyes to Robin who sat in the back wrapping and re-wrapping a cut to his arm.

Once on the Bioship, Artemis began to describe the male to the rest of the team leaving out no details, except for maybe how she had ended up unconscious. It was very possible that the male had been working with her sister, he had showed up at the right time and his choice of outfit was uncanny to hers – the mask at least. Vowing to be the one to knock them out on sight the next time they met, she opted to push those thoughts from her mind and refocus on the matter at hand.

"And the book?"

"The book is safe." Aqualad assured the blonde.

"Great. Now maybe we won't have a Bat breathing down our necks all day tomorrow when we report."

"Yeah," Looking down at his side Conner scratched Wolf behind the ear. "Good job buddy."

Chuckling at Conner and Wolf's little bonding moment Kid Flash looked to Red Arrow knowing that the male was brooding about his little scuffle with Cheshire. Scuffle turned make-out session anyway he did not want to know details.

"So, you're kind of quiet," Kid Flash mumbled turning fully to face Red Arrow who was otherwise sitting with his eyes closed, arms crossed.

"Not a word."

"Not even a little thanks for saving your butt?"

"Can it."

"Sure thing tiger."

Not even the glare could wipe off the cocky smirk the younger redhead wore.

.

-X-

_3:15 a.m_.

Back at the cave everyone had showered before briefing Black Canary on what had happened. With so many distractions she was glad to know that they had all gotten back relatively okay and accomplished their mission. They definitely needed this.

Keeping in mind that Cheshire and Bane had been there along with an unknown male she would run all of that by the other League Members. Something was going on and they needed to figure out what and soon.

"I will tell Crimson Avenger of this news although I have a sneaking suspicion that he already knows." Shining a proud smile at her students she shooed them out to go and sleep. Maybe she would even go easy on them during Monday's Hell training. She'd talk it over with Batman when he _wasn't_ PMS-ing.

Oliver had of course told her why the male had cancelled their date the night before. If there was anyone more stubborn than Roy it was definitely the Bat himself. How Robin dealt with the man she had no clue.

-X-

It was now about an hour later and Wally found himself doing his rounds making sure everyone was taken care of injury wise and doing okay. Don't ask him why he did it, the redhead was not inclined to answer. It was just something he had started to do with Dick after every mission before extending it to the others one by one.

Roy was getting his butt handed to him in a game of CoD against Robin, as per usual. He'd give them about another hour or so before they both crashed were they sat. M'gann and Conner where working on the bikes, as per usual, doing last minute tweaks before they would head off to bed. Kaldur was off in the swimming pool, as per usual, more than likely clearing his head. Zatanna in her room reading up on magic, as per usual, Raquel hitting the heavy bags, as per usual winding down so she could actually sleep and Artemis was not with her as was not usual.

Hiding his slight confusion for the time being Wally made himself known to Raquel before shooting her a wink and heading off to find the archer. After the mission that night…morning… and the one before he could only guess at to where she would be. He was just hoping that she was not with her arrows. Last time he had tried to talk to her he had to run down the side of the cave dodging her sharpened arrows on the way down. He was so not feeling the aster that day.

Exiting the cave, Wally walked a bit down the side looking for the ledge he used to climb up before running the rest of the way. It didn't take long to find the blonde female seated close to the edge staring off into the horizon.

_Here goes nothing_, Wally thought to himself before clearing his throat. _Well…that got her attention_. He waved as the blonde shot him an icy grey stare before turning her gaze back to the horizon.

"Came to gloat?"

"If my asking if you're alright is gloating, then yea, sure."

"I'm not in the mood for-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Wally said cutting the female off before she could continue. "I only want to talk…No arguing…maybe some light banter…nothing else."

Turning just her head this time to look at the speedster Artemis shrugged her shoulders, "Fine."

Making his way over to the edge Wally sat down next to her keeping enough room between them where it didn't feel awkward, but close enough to give her some comfort. He took in her appearance noticing the bruises that were starting to form from her fight with the masked ninja.

The med kit was on her other side letting the redhead know that she had, in fact, patched herself up at least. He and Roy had to practically hog tie the mini-bat to get him still long enough to clean the cut on his arm. In his distracted state in the Bioship he had done a botch job.

"So, you never answered my question."

"I never knew you asked one."

Running the conversation back Wally's eyes grew wide. He would let her have that one. "You alright?"

"As alright as alright can be."

"So I take that as a no," Wally said all the while leaning back to stare up at the sky. Stars were starting to reveal themselves as the daylight grew dim. "Listen you shouldn't beat yourself up about the mission today. We kept the book from getting into the wrong hands and we all came back in one piece."

"I lost…again. I let the guy get the upper hand just like I let Kaito get the upper hand, just like I let Cheshire get the upper hand."

"You think you're the only one to have a problem with someone. If you don't remember that last mission I got knocked out during the fight. Rob could have been hurt, you all could have been hurt more than just a few scrapes and a headache. But you weren't. Learn from your mistakes and make them your strengths. And if you feel like you need extra help aside from Rockie, I'll help you spar."

"You Baywatch?"

The tone of the archer's voice did not go unnoticed by the Speedster. Glaring playfully at the female next to him he gently pushed her arm. "Hey, Rob is my best bro and I've been doing this a bit longer than you."

"Like I would ever ask for _your_ help," Turning back to face the horizon, which by now was a dark shade of blue, she smirked. "That would make us like friends or something."

"What," Wally asked in mock offense. "You don't want to be my friend? I'll have you know that in the third grade I got the award for most likely to have the most friends."

"Shut up," Artemis said pushing the speedster away from her. She couldn't help but to laugh at his antics. He wasn't half bad being around when he wasn't flirting or being a complete idiot.

"Hey Baywatch?"

"Yea Apollo."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

They had lapsed into a comfortable silence until Wally broke it with an exasperated yell. "_Aw maaaan_!"

Jumping Artemis turned to the male sitting next to her to figure out just what was wrong with him. She was sure he hadn't been hurt too bad during the mission and if he was he should be fine by now. 'Accelerated healing,' he would always boast. "Everything alright?"

"I forgot to get a souvenir."

Looking over at the redhead with a deadpanned expression Artemis burst out laughing. "Of course you would worry about that."

_So the Harpy does have a sense of humor_, Wally thought to himself watching the sun slowly make its way up into the sky, a small smile on his face.

-X-

Meanwhile

**Saturday**

4:25 a.m.

Heavy breathing down an empty street, boots hitting the concrete hard and fast, faster and yet lighter footsteps behind him. One minute he was making a deal with one of the regular addicts, the next he was being hounded down by a crazed hooded lunatic waving a weird ass blade.

Turning down a sharp alley the thug kept running not even bothering to look behind him to see if he was still being followed. Despite all of the noise he was making he was pretty sure the creep was right behind him. That and he's seen enough horror movies to know that if he turned around it was game over. He'd either trip over something or when he looked back there the creep would be standing in front of him – whacked out grin and dagger in hand.

Seeing an escape, he hopped onto a dumpster and was about to grab for the fire escape ladder when he was barreled over back onto the concrete. Groaning from landing hard on his back, hitting his head in the process the thug tried to get up only to get a very hard and painful hit to the mouth.

"What the hell man? What do you want? If it's cash I ain't got it!"

"Gorilla gang?" Wait? He just got taken down by a _kid_? The guy had to be no more than 18 maybe 20 with an accent he couldn't quite place. Either way this was not good for his rep.

"Man don't nobody belong to that-" he was cut off with a sharp tug to his arm, enough to make it seem like it would either be broken or taken out of the socket, but not enough to actually do so.

"Do not toy with me."

"Man…F- you!"

Reaching into the male's back pocket the hooded figure took out the thug's wallet putting more pressure onto his back with his knee. Placing the wallet right in between his shoulder blades he proceeded to flip it open slowly going through the pictures. "I did not know scum had families." Waving the wallet in the males face he set it down right in front of him pointing to the open picture. "Beautiful wife and kids, she is your wife yes?"

"You go anywhere near them I'll rip ya damn head off and stuff ya balls in ya eye sockets."

Chuckling the male continued to flip through the wallet slowly pausing every once and a while to let his captive get a good look, ignoring his slew of curses and threats as he did so. Getting through them all the hooded figure went back to the front leaving it open now on the man's driving license. "I am sure you would Jonathan Wilks of 745 Greenwhich street." The male smirked when his captive began to struggle harder to get out of the hold only causing himself more pain as he pressed further into his back twisting his arm in the process. "I'll kill ya damn son of a –"

"I am curious. Do your children have to listen to that language? Jonny, I can call you Jonny right? Tell me what I want to know and nothing will happen to your family. Your gang cannot be more important than them."

"You son of a –"

"I am going to ask you only this twice nicely to please give me what I want to know or I start with little Jake. That is the uniform for P.S 118 correct?"

"You ain't gonna do nothin'." Chuckling once again the male could hear the desperation in the captive male's voice. He was real close to giving. Just one more push.

The hooded figure tossed the wallet a few feet away before taking a semi-automatic out of his pocket. Pressing it to the thugs head he one handedly pulled back the hammer. "Jonathan. Second time." Leaning down close to Jonathans ear he asked yet again. "Pretty please. Think about your family. They should not grow up without a father."

"You little-" Feeling the gun press harder on the back of his head Jonathan had maybe a few seconds at best to figure out what to do. If the male was bluffing then he would be walking away. The kid didn't sound like he was bluffing, however. He had been threatened plenty of times before, it came with the business, but this was something he knew he couldn't wiggle his way out of.

So he cracked.

After the thug spilled his guts on what he knew he felt the hooded figure tap him on the back of the head. "That is a good man Jonny. Now that better be the right information or I will go straight to Kelley. Is that clear?"

"That's the right information you piece a shet. Stay away from my family or I swear I'll hunt you down and kill ya."

"That is all fine and good Jon, but answer me this one question," the hooded figure asked leaning back down, "How do you catch something which changes like the wind?" Leaning back up he, in one shallow motion, brought the gun down to the back of Jonathans head knocking him out.

Standing up he tucked the gun back into his waistband, dusted off his jeans and straightened up his hoodie, placing the hood further onto his head. About to disappear into the night he stopped when there was a shrill cry of a female not too far from where he stood in the alley. Taking a moment's pause to look back at the knocked out man, Jonathan…he sprinted off.

End

Yea. Not much going on here I'm in a bit of a pickle as to how to continue….still…hence the filler like mission…or maybe something important came out of this whole ordeal. Friendship? Yea I'm bull-shefangling right now. ::Hold out change cup:: Review? lol.

**Next time on Effects of Black and White**

Halfway through the part of the notes that was translated they were all interrupted by a rushed apology by Ying as he darted out of the room without so much as grabbing his hoodie or bag. "Who lit the fire under his ass?" Roy asked as they all stared at the door the male had disappeared through.

"Don't know," Raquel said absently trying to figure out just what had happened. "Did anyone catch the conversation?"

"Not a word," Zatanna answered.

They all looked to Robin who hadn't noticed, his curious gaze on the hallway the male disappeared down.

**Recognize Rokuro C09**

"Whatever it was it was pretty heated…at least on his end," Robin said getting up. Disappearing into his room he came back a few minutes later with his laptop. "I may not be able to get exactly what he was saying but body language is always something do-able."


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer-I do not own Young Justice. Wish I did but I don't**

**If any of you have noticed I changed the summary. Still the same story…still going in the same direction as I intend it to…Just feel like the summary needed work. **

**Things from this point on should be moving a little bit better and smoother like butta. Things should start making a bit more sense now. **

**As always thanx for the reviews, favs and story alerts. Appreciated and help tons.**

**Special Thanks to TImexgone23 for helping me through the road block. Xiexie ni Bakayaro! 3**

**Saturday**

"That, is the last time…I ever…sleep on those couches again," Roy said walking into the kitchen. Cracking his neck he was greeted by Raquel, Conner, M'gann and Zatanna who were already up.

"What?" The minute he had walked into the room Raquel and Zatanna had burst out laughing. Conner had a smirk on his face and M'gann was pretty close to joining the other two females. "I'm not going to repeat again."

"Good morning frie-" Kaldur stopped in mid-sentence as he got a good look at Roy's face. In, he hoped was not permanent marker, was a monocle around his left eye and a curly mustache, his eyebrows connected by a line. "Good day sir," Kaldur said before making his way to the kitchen isle. Raquel, M'gann and Zatanna began to laugh harder, Conner chuckling along with Kaldur.

"Alright someone better spill or I'm sending an arrow into all of your knees."[1]

"What is going on?" Artemis asked rubbing her eyes. Turning to Roy her face lit up into an evil smirk. "Aren't you a little too old to be playing with other people's makeup?"

Glaring at the blond archer Roy went straight to the silverware drawer and pulled out a spoon. The room grew quiet waiting for his response…Three seconds gone by…seven seconds….twelve seconds….a whole minute…

"WALLACE!"

Roy left the room in a flurry or curses, Artemis could swear she had seen smoke coming out of his ears.

"Should we tell him about the sign?" Raquel asked after finally calming down from her laughing fit.

Wiping tears from her eyes Zatanna shook her head. "He'll find out soon enough."

There was a sign on his back that read' Payback for the roof, A-hole,' complementary with a smiley face and signed with a flash symbol.

"When do you think he'll find out Wally's not here?"

"Give it a minute," Raquel said answering the Martians question.

At that point Robin had finally woken up thanks to Roy screaming Wally's name, whatever that was about. Walking into the kitchen he stopped feeling something was off. They had been laughing…about something…and he didn't know…he really was off his game.

"Feeling a little whelmed right now. What'd I miss?"

"Wait for it," Conner said enjoying himself. He liked seeing how Wally's pranks came out just as long as they weren't done on him.

The unmistakable sound of stomping hit all of their ears headed for the kitchen. "Where the hell is that redheaded troll doll?"

Robin and the rest of the room at that point lost it. Whipping out his phone Robin took a quick picture before disappearing into the shadows of the cave cackling the whole way.

**-X-**

**Recognize Kid Flash B03**

Looking around the Speedster checked just about anywhere a person could hide before finally making his way to the living room plopping down next to his raven haired best friend. "So, what'd I miss?"

"Roy having a hernia." Flipping out his phone Robin went straight to the picture of Roy just before he stormed out of the kitchen. The look of pure rage on his face was priceless. "Nice one."

"Eh, it's a little grade-school but man was it worth it. You gotta send me that."

Sending the speedster the picture Robin quirked an eyebrow. "You know he's going to kill you right?"

"He has to catch me first."

"You said that the last time before he hung you upside down outside his balcony."

"Yea, and if I remember correctly you were absolutely no help."

"Details," Robin said waving away Wally's glare. "Sent."

"Sweet! Blackmail." Flipping out his phone Wally opened up the download and burst out laughing. Robin had managed to catch Roy in mid fume making the mustache all the more sinister. He'd think twice now before threatening to make him street pizza. "So where is Raggedy Ann anyway?"

"Talking with Kaldur about the pending mission. Apparently Rokuro came through yesterday with something for Batman. What it was he didn't ask and Rokuro didn't mention it. Didn't seem to be about what he originally came here for though."

"So you think Batman has him working on a side mission?"

"Knowing Batman…It's possible." Looking around for who knows what Wally witnessed Rob pull out his gauntlet before pulling up news files. "There was a robbery Friday morning out at a facility down in the City run by Sesame Corps. It sounded a little suspicious just for a simple robbery what with the timing so I dug further into it. Guess who runs the company?"

Not waiting for the speedsters answer Rob turned the screen so that his best friend could get a better look at the news clipping.

**_Robbery at local Sesame Latex Facility_**

_Just early this morning local latex factory….blah blah blah blah hold up…_Looking to Robin Wally went back to the file green eyes growing wider at the realization.

_"Japanese-American company owner Dante Ueda was informed of the damages done with quick response from his top security aid and long term friend Officer Jin Mitsuhide. _

_When we were able to get Mr. Ueda owner of seven companies in America, on the phone he had informed us that nothing of value was taken saying "It was more than just a hoax by bored teens. Who else would break into a latex factory in the middle of the night?" _

Looking back up at the raven haired male Wally shook his head. "And you think Rokuro had something to do with this?"

"Like I said it's possible. He lives, to my knowledge anyway, in the city and came in yesterday afternoon with files for Batman…The same case he took us off of not too long ago. He wouldn't just stop going after it."

"But to use someone else just like that? Isn't it a bit dangerous?"

"That's the bat for you."

About to ask if the male had run this by the others he thought better. With the somewhat secretive way he went about it Wally highly doubted that he did. "So when are you going to tell the others?"

"Once Kaldur and Roy stop being all secretive about whatever it was that Rokuro came here to talk to them about."

**Recognize Rokuro C09**

"Speak of the devil," Robin said getting up to meet the older male, Wally beside him.

Rokuro stepped through the zeta wearing an outfit not unlike the one he wore yesterday. Holey blue jeans, black sneakers, oversized black hoodie and black fingerless gloves. His glasses sat on top of his head, hair smoothed back into a pony tail.

"Get into a fight with a blender?"

Robin elbowed Wally who had, instead of saying hi, taken in the male's appearance noting the fist shaped bruise on the left side of his jaw. He sported a small cut at his temple that would have otherwise been covered up by his hat, had he been wearing it and a split lip.

Rokuro narrowed his eyes in slight confusion before looking down at his outfit. Smoothing out his hoody he proceeded to straighten out his hair all the while the Young Justice team stood watching the male.

_Is he serious?_ Robin asked before giving the male a hand seeing as no one else was going to do it.

M'gann, however, took pity quicker on the confused soul. "The bruise on your face." To emphasize she pointed to her own cheek.

Brown eyes lit up slowly in understanding. "Oh. I took a hard left from a thug the night before."

"And they managed to do all of that?" Raquel asked raising a brow. Maybe Kaldur should lead this instead.

"No just the one hit. I was retrieving a stolen bag for an older woman, lost my footing on a building and fell."

At no other time would Artemis have believed someone if they had told her that same story. The older male standing in front of her with the bruised cheek and split lip, however, she could. "And you're okay?" Artemis asked slowly looking the male up and down. The hoodie would have hidden a lot of things but she was sure not many people walked away from falling off of a building.

"The older woman got her bag returned to her, so yes."

"Um…okay," Wally said completely confused. Looking around to the others he was at least not the only one. Roy looked like he was in between laughing and punching the guy for being so oblivious, Robin was definitely staring, as were Kaldur and Zatanna. Superboy seemed to be in a mental conversation with M'gann both equally confused and confusing each other. Raquel seemed the only one not put off.

"How far was the drop?"

This didn't get a quick answer as Rokuro actually had to think about it. "I believe four story. Managed to break my fall with a banister and closed dumpster." Recalling the memory Rokuro unconsciously placed his hand to his chest, probably where he had hit the balcony's banister. That would have had to hurt.

"You, are an idiot," Artemis said finally unable to hold it in any longer.

"Okay!" Zatanna piped in to stop any pending argument or worse between the female archer and Rokuro. They hadn't been around the male long enough to know how he was temperament wise especially when it came to dealing with Artemis first hand. All the older male did, however, was raise a questioning brow at the female.

"You're early," Conner commented looking the male up and down.

"Yea, that's what Kaldur and I were going to talk to you about," Roy butt in before the Asian male could say anything. "We're going to start today instead of Sunday. Get to know each other faster before anything real pops up." With the way Roy had spoken it seemed like he would rather not although it could be left over anger from that morning.

"Yea-huh," Raquel said with a smirk. "And how do you pose we do that? Name games?"

"Back home we fought one another, normally till the other was unconscious to get to know each other," Rokuro said with a serious face making the others go a little on edge. "But for the sake of customs here, just exchanging names for now should be fine. "I am already aware of Kaldur'Ahm speaking with him a few times so I only see it fair to give you mine. I am Okiayu Ying-Xue. For the sake of long names Ying is fine."

Exchanging names for the next few seconds Ying had given both Artemis and Robin curious gazes before turning brown eyes to Raquel. "So Rokuro?"

"Grandmothers maiden name."

"Ah okay." Wasn't as extravagant as she was hoping but it was cute. What grandmother wouldn't be proud of her grandson taking on her name to fight crime?

"Should we get started?" Stripping off his hoodie Ying wore a simple black long sleeved shirt and grey vest both which, unlike his hoodie and pants, fit to his body.

"Must have been some hard left," Roy said making note of the bandage on the male's neck. Without the hoodie he could make out the slight bulge of a wrapping on the males right and left arms. Besides getting punched in the face and falling from a building what the hell else had he been doing?

"Should we get started?" Ying asked holding up a small bag.

-X-

Rearranging the living room was a small hassle in itself just trying to figure out how to move everything and not break it or someone's toes. Six stubbed appendages and thirty minutes later had Artemis, Zatanna, and Raquel sitting on the three sitter, Kaldur on the recliner to Raquel's left with Ying sitting on the ground next to him his back on the recliner and love seat which sat Conner and M'gann leaving Roy, Wally, and Robin to have pulled up a chair from the bar. They all sat around the coffee table, the gun, pocket watch, and notes from Ying on the table.

"So are you going to tell us how you actually found out about the items?"

"At the moment, no. But you will."

"So…The story you told the League the other day…Is just that."

"Yes, and no," Ying said studying the gun for what the others had no clue. "I was confronted by Kaldur and Roy on the subject the day before. There are things that I have the ability to tell you and things that I absolutely will not. Whether you decide to help with this after knowing that fact is up to you."

About to ask why that was exactly Raquel felt that it would go directly under the title of classified. Never stopped her before. "Why is that?"

"You all knowing about the items…me even asking for help…I'm pushing things as it is."

"So we're pretty much on a need to know basis."

"That system normally works both ways," Ying stated putting the gun down reaching for the pocket watch.

Thinking it was time to show the group what Wally and he had found Robin reached into his bag and brought out the locket and book, opting yet again to leave the box till he figured out what else was inside. "Found this." Setting them on the table next to the other items he pointedly ignored the curious gazes of his out of the loop team members.

Picking up the locket first Ying's gaze stayed on the book, an unreadable expression on his face. "Where did you find these?"

"I'm not at liberty to disclose that at the moment," Robin said not backing down from the look Ying was giving him.

"Fair enough," Ying said dropping the subject to analyze the locket. Looking it over slowly he placed it down on his leg before putting on his glasses and looking at it again. The others watched him silently as he turned it over and over inspecting each side before opening it and repeating his administrations just like he had done the gun and pocket watch. "Here," Ying pointed to a spot just under the dragon's head.

"Each piece should be marked with this same character." Pointing at different locations at the gun and pocket watch he placed the locket down onto the table before extracting a pen and paper from his bag.

For further emphasis he drew out the symbol on the locket, doing the same for the pocket watch and the gun. "Like I showed you they are going to be on different locations."

"If someone tried to forge it?"

"I cannot talk about that, at least not right now," Ying said answering Zatanna's question. Thinking about it further he caved. "First we are to look for the symbol. Means Nian," writing out the pingyin he continued to go through the check using the gun this time. "The eyes of the dragon are supposed to glow in the dark." Cupping his hands over the butt of the gun he peered into the little dark cave he made before passing it to Conner. "The roses have a distinct smell." Picking up the pocket watch he passed it to Kaldur.

"How is that possible?" Kaldur asked curious as to how the metal did in fact smell something like roses.

"It's a secret of the temples. Infused essence of the immature rose petals."

"Infused what?"

"Here we go," Artemis said rolling her eyes at Wally's comment. Mr. Science was going to have a field day with this one.

Passing the gun to Robin he stared incredulously at Ying who was otherwise oblivious running through the pages of the book Robin had found.

"So you're telling me," Raquel blinked slowly at Wally after hearing his explanation on how the metal…even if infused with anything that smelled…wouldn't hold the scent let alone after years of its forging. Not able to believe a word he said, "that you have a teammate who uses magic, and yet you don't believe in it? I thought you were the first to well…you know." The story of Fate and his helmet was still a sour subject around Zatanna which was completely understandable.

"Yea but even so-"

"Come off it Baywatch," Artemis voiced, rolling her eyes at the redhead.

"So do they actually whisper too?" Wally asked holding the pocket watch to his ear. The others just rolled their eyes.

About to pass the pocket watch off to Robin the redhead instead took the gun back from him before he could pass it on and weighed both items between his hands. It was weird to him how heavy the items were considering that the pocket watch was completely empty of all mechanics but what unsettled him further was that the pocket watch and gun felt like they weighed about the same. Narrowing his eyes in suspicion he passed the pocket watch before taking up the locket. Same thing and the locket was significantly smaller than the gun.

They both seemed to be forged by the same metal, the gun embellished with a lot more decorations that the pocket watch.

"In a sense yes," Ying said answering the redhead's question. "Like stated before, the items hold the souls of the warriors, monk and Nian."

"That why the items weigh about the same?"

Everyone's eyes were on Wally who was still balancing the items in his hands before passing them to Robin, the younger male doing the same, eyes widening in realization.

"The soul of an angry being is quite the heavy one," Ying said not looking up from the book.

"So then shouldn't that be a sure tell that the items are real?"

"It should be but I would not do that. If you were to make contact with the Nian, you would not survive."

"So it has been done before."

"Yes," Ying said placing down the book and turning to Kaldur who had posed the thought. "It did not go so well for the person who did so. That is why I told Martian Manhunter he would not be able to sense the Nian. It is not that he cannot but that he should not try to do so." With these last words he turned to M'gann before looking back to his notes. "It is very…tricky and consuming."

"But it is possible?" Artemis asked after receiving the items.

"Yes."

"So about the items to begin with. Why even separate the Nian?"

"Everything is in the notes. I made copies that way you all have your own. History, background of the first and second people to have taken off with the items. People who meet that M.O and what the items look like."

Reaching into his bag Ying took out a few stapled papers and passed them all to Roy to pass to the others. Satisfied that they were preoccupied with something for the time being Ying focused his attention back on the book. More than curious as to how Robin got a hold of it he wanted to press the younger male but chose not to. He had, just like Ying, every right not to tell him. That just sparked his curiosity more.

Reading the notes page by page Robin couldn't believe how much information was written about these things and how they had never heard of them before. This opened his eyes to so many things. What else could possibly be true? The Nocheness monster? Yeti, Bigfoot? Turning to the beginning of the notes he began reading them.

**x- **Nian- "New." Legend says that is comes down every New Years. Afraid of the color read. Afraid of sound. The Nian is a creature strong enough to take out whole cities within hours. About 70 hands high, head like a lion, armored back and sides, greenish grey in color, orange mane, grey eyes.**-x**

**x- **Red scares the Nian but does not stop or completely subdue. Talking to the Nian does not completely subdue it. Fighting the Nian does not subdue it.**-x**

**x**-1895- The items are stolen from their rest area within a village in Western China. Whole guardian family killed under an hour. Nian unleashed. Found and placed to rest in new location not disclosed to outsiders.-**x**

Stopping Robin thought of what was going on around that time in 1895…Treaty of Shimonoseki. Writing that down in the margins of that paragraph he continued to read on. Outsides? Possibly being non-guardians. So if they whole family that had been guarding them was killed how did anyone else know about the items?

**x-**1955- Item's stolen. Resurface in May on the 14th. Historically the day the U.S performed nuclear tests in the Pacific. Cover up for reappearance of the Nian. Nations work together to stop worldwide pandemic.**-x**

Both times it was not written down who took off with the items let alone why. In 1895 the Japanese and Chinese had signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki. It was just after the Sino-Japanese war. It could have been a ploy to either keep the war going or a threat to somehow stop it. World War II had ended just a few years prior. Hard feelings? There had been a lot of treaties founded within that year and timespan as well. Could it be possible that people were preparing to start up another war?

The time before proved the legend right that the Nian walked on land descending down from the mountains. It also confirmed that it could traverse through the oceans if it wanted to. Was it possible enough for someone to control the creature or was it solely working by itself on its own rage and anger from being locked away?

Then there was the reason on why the creature felt the need to terrorize people in the first place. There were always stories of beings that got kicks out of terrorizing people but something wasn't right with this. The fact that it showed up at a specific time of year, almost like an anniversary of some sort…He had heard of stories where kind spirits turn into menevolent beings once something sets them off.

He needed to keep reading.

**x- **1895. Perp found to be resident of the Republic of Formosa. Name never given. No person found responsible for 1955.**-x**

There was a 60 year gap between activity Robin noted marking that down on his paper as well.

**xx- **It is likely possible that within 2015 the Nian will be unleashed if not found and properly taken care of.-**xx**

Checking his math Ying was right. If this happened every 60 years then something big was to go down within 2015. It wasn't guaranteed, however, that if they did find these items that they could keep them out of the hands of the wrong people. Who was to say that Ying himself wasn't the wrong people? He knew a lot about the items themselves, knew how dangerous they were. Who was to say that he wasn't using them to help him collect them, just for him to turn against them? Okay he really needed to get out more and stop hanging around Bruce and that depressing manor for so long. He was turning into a paranoid 13 year old.

Looking down at the items Robin made another note. The gun on the table was a 1955 double action Colt Python. If he remembered correctly the items had been destroyed when they had been taken the first time. So in between that time and 1955 they had to have been destroyed again. There was nothing, however, in the notes stating that.

**x-**1960- Items stolen again from disclosed location. Have yet to make an appearance.**-x**

**xx- **2012- Items have resurfaced after 52 years of hibernation.**-xx**

About to read over to the next page Roy's voice broke through his concentration bringing everyone out of their thoughts.

"Ying," Roy said, the annoyance dripping in his voice "The rest of your notes are in Chinese…"

Ying looked up from the book having the decency to look sheepish. "Forgot that. I can translate them now. Closing the book and pushing it up to the middle of the table he took the notes from Roy and began writing it out in Pinying then in English, glad he had brought extra paper.

Robin had turned to Wally wondering why the Speedster hadn't caught onto that information fast enough. Looking over he saw why. He wasn't the only one who had been writing notes Wally's a bit more extensive than his. _Go figure._

"Ey, yo phone ringing….ey, yo phone ringing….EY, yo Phone rin-"

"Excuse me." Getting up Ying answered his phone moving to the other side of the room.

Giving the older male about a few more seconds of his attention Robin went back to the notes seeing if there was any other connection he could make about the dates as well as the people who could have been behind the disturbances.

Finishing the notes yet again Robin decided to recount the things the male had said in the meeting with the league.

It still made no sense to him that his family had those items. One could pass it off as sheer coincidence but he had a sinking suspicion this was more. Now if only Ying would tell them what the book was about then maybe he could piece it all together a little better.

Other than his mother mentioning her time in Mongolia when she met his father there were no other times they had mentioned anything about the Asian continent.

Gah! This made no sense at all.

"Sorry about that." Sitting back down Ying went back to the book oblivious to the curious gazes shot his way about the phone call. He had been speaking in Japanese for one so whatever it was none of them knew.

Lapsing into silence yet again it was Roy who broke it. "Find out anything on the book?"

It took Ying a little longer to answer the question whether he were trying to figure if he should answer it or if he were just too absorbed into the book nobody could really tell. "Yes."

Roy sat in his chair staring at the male waiting for him to say more. When he did not he grew a bit impatient. "Care to elaborate?"

It took Ying yet a while longer to answer in the positive. "It is an account of the Nian before it was sealed away. Dates…stories of villagers who lost loved ones to him." Ying stopped talking flipping slowly through the book his face expressionless but his eyes. Was he going to cry? Taking a slow deep breath and letting it out even slower Ying continued. "It tells of the Nian even before it started killing…I…This is not what I was expecting." Turning to Robin, his eyes mysteriously dry all of a sudden Ying posed a question. "Seeing as you were the one to find this do you mind if I hold onto it till tomorrow. I would like to finish translating it."

"Sure." There was nothing else that Robin felt he could have said, curious as to the male's actions. He had seemed, until reading the book, like he was opening up little by little with the information had closed off.

Thanking the male Ying went back to the book after having finished with the previous notes. He still could not help but wonder exactly how the young male got his hands on not only the locket but the book as well. It wasn't something that you just came into possession over unless it was Batman who had it to begin with. That, however, made no sense to the young man. He was pretty sure the Dark Knight would have not only read it, assuming he knew the language, but questioned him once he even posed the mission with the items to begin with. No something else was at play here.

He needed to get to the bottom of this for his own sanity.

End

No preview this time. Sorry folks.

Would like to say Hollywood needs to stop pulling at my heart stings and make that damn Flash Movie already!


	14. Chapter 14

Hey everybuggy. Sorry about the delayed update. Feel like I'm getting more on a role with this story as the time goes by. Special thanx to Timexgone23 for helping me out with my block oh that was a fun conversation. Lol.

Thank you for the love, reviews and the like are always appreciated.

Disclaimer so I do not forget I do not own Young Justice…Hence it being a FANfiction…But hey…what do I know?

Enjoy

**Saturday**

After going over the rest of the translated notes and Ying leaving soon after, the Young Justice were left to talk amongst themselves. Kaldur had made it pretty clear he was unsure as to why the male up and left so suddenly without discussing the notes for them. Clearly there where things that needed to be clarified and with him the only one knowing what was going on…and leaving was not going to help. They would need to sit down with the male at some point preferably tomorrow when he came back to talk to him about his leading skills. He may not have been the best at it when first given the job, but even he hadn't made such a rookie mistake.

"So what is your opinion?"

"Of him or this mission?" Raquel asked placing down her notes. "The mission seems pretty interesting, but he could learn to know how a team acts."

"Well he has only worked with one other person before…And our teamwork wasn't all there when we first started," M'gann noted. She didn't feel like any of them where wrong in being critical of the male, but it wouldn't hurt to give him a chance. Besides she may have been the only one who picked up on the emotions rolling off of him when he was reading the book.

He had, for lack of better words, for what she really got from him, seemed _scared_. Whether that was accurate or not M'gann thought it best to leave it for the moment.

Looking around the room the Martian had noticed that out of everyone Robin had been the quietest, even when the male was there. Normally he, Wally and especially if Roy was around would be the loudest in the room. It could be that he was still bummed about the way the first mission had ended. She wouldn't blame him for that fact either.

Having talked to Conner afterwards she knew that he was still angry about the way Kaito had managed to slip past them. Glad that his partner for the mission was okay, he did not like being out foxed by someone especially some creep who lived his life doing things that potentially ended up hurting others in the end.

"Maybe its best we just put all of this aside and wind down for the rest of the day," M'gann suggested. They all had been reading for some time now and it had been a while since they had all been together and done anything remotely fun as a team. "Who's up for a walk on the beach?"

Looking around a lot of the faces had brightened to that idea, mainly Wally and Robin, with them a walk on the beach normally meant, prank time. Someone was going to come back to the cave either with half the beach within their clothes or sopping wet.

As long as they were together.

"Sure," Artemis was the first to agree, not completely out of the ordinary as she glared directly at Robin and Wally. "But if you so much as even think about pranking me I will skewer you both to the side of the mountain and use you as a piñata."

"Dude, you are not that important," Wally said with a smirk. They both knew how he meant it, Artemis rolling her eyes before flipping him the bird and heading outside.

Shrugging her shoulders Raquel got up as well. "Could be fun, there a volley ball net?"

"Nope, but who says we can't improvise," Zatanna said as she too stood holding her hand out to Kaldur. "Come on oh fearless leader. Best two out of three. Women against the boys; loser has to take over bathroom duties for the month. Give Red Tornado a break."

Thinking it over Kaldur took Zatanna's hand and stood. Why not?

Leaving "_The Three Musketeers_", M'gann and Conner the clone looked around the room a frown on his face.

"What's wrong Supes?" Wally asked the brooding teen.

"The teams are uneven."

"Then let's get sphere to play. She's a she right?"

Taking a second to think it over Conner shrugged his shoulders as if to say okay before taking M'gann's hand and walking to join the others outside, Robin, Wally, and Roy behind them.

/What's on your mind M'gann?/

/Just thinking about how much fun we're going to have…Watching you guys clean up the mountain for a month./

Smirking Conner held his girlfriend's hand just a little tighter. /Not happening./

Silently to herself M'gann vowed to make the negative feelings that were coming with this mission disappear.

-X-

**Sunday**

**12:02a.m.**

"I just don't get it!"

Dick had found himself at Roy's after the volleyball match…Guys had lost, but that wasn't what had the bird whelmed…at least not at the moment. It was the third night in the row he was spending away from the cave. Sunday…He'd have to go back to school the next day and even worse face Bruce at some time. The fact that he had actively avoided the older man while Bruce seemed to not be at all effected, _go figure_, irked him to no end. Between that and Alfred had called him.

He couldn't say that he blamed Alfred, the butler only had his best intentions at heart. Dick would believe that over someone saying that about the Bat any day.

Going over the rest of the notes had drawn up nothing on what Dick had hoped. The names of the warriors, as well as the monk, hadn't sprung any hints what-so-ever; not even a small feeling of resemblance. Running over everything that he had heard and found over the last few days Dick was brought out of his brooding by a pillow to the head.

Glaring at the older of his brothers all he got in return was a half-hearted shrug. "If you don't stop doing that you're going to run a hole through my floors."

"Not like you're getting your whole safety deposit back anyway," Dick mumbled plopping down on the sofa next to Roy.

Looking to the sealed hole he had put in his wall after a fight with Ollie Roy cringed at the harsh reality of those words before getting back to the matter at hand. "Listen. You'll get the book back tomorrow, translated, and if it bothers you so much ask him to give you back the locket."

Sighing Dick ran his hands through his hair. He had been doing that a lot lately. Not a good habit to start up. "It's not so much about the locket or the book but why they had it. Never once did they say anything about China, or New Years, let alone a monster that destroys towns every year. You don't hold on to that type of stuff if it doesn't mean anything."

"Maybe they were holding onto it for someone? Or they were going to tell you when you were older."

Receiving another glare, Roy watched as Dick stood up and proceeded to pace the floor this time keeping his ranting to himself. 'G-damn why were little brothers such a pain?' Roy asked himself before sticking out his foot stopping the mini-bat in his steps.

"For the sake of me getting some of my safety deposit back we're going to head over to the manner right now and figure the rest of this out." Getting up Roy stopped as Dick continued to block his way.

"Technically he doesn't even know that I told you –"

"And I should care how? Get traught," Dick smirked at Roy's usage of the word. Always the one to call him an idiot for 'messing up with an already messed up language,' to hear the older male use it was priceless. "If he has anything to say he can say it to my crossbow, we're leaving."

As if to further the promise Roy grabbed his case and keys before opening his apartment door waiting for Dick to grab his coat. He'd be damned if Dick continued to beat himself senseless over this and not do something. If Wally were there and not out fighting against his retarded Rogues then it wouldn't be so nerve racking on him. The younger redhead was closer in age to the raven than he was, but a brother was just that.

-X-

**12:44a.m.**

Getting to the manner was one thing. Getting inside was a whole different story without setting any immediate alarms of the new comer. Dick had phoned ahead to Alfred, one to see if the Bat was home and two, to let him know he was bringing a guest. Whether the older male had a problem with it or he already had his inkling on who it was, he didn't show it.

"It has been a while Master Richard," Alfred said greeting the young male before directing his attention to the much older redhead than he was used to. "Master Roy I presume. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Ah….Likewise," Roy said for lack of a better answer. Really he was still trying to get over the size of the joint. He could fit at least seven of his whole apartment complex into it. Not even Oliver's place had been this big. Getting over his slight shock Roy followed Dick into the manner and presumably to his room nearly jumping when a black and brown mass came barreling towards him.

"You have a kil-puppy?"

"Ace, Roy, Roy this is Ace," Dick said picking up the four legged bat who at the moment had found Roy's shoes pretty interesting chomping down repeatedly into the material.

Not going to comment about the pint sized Killer, Roy continued to walk noticing how the puppy kept wiggling in Dick's hands and staring at him…Glaring the look intensified when Ace had given him the same look right back. Yep…Couldn't be one of the bat family if you didn't know how to strike fear with a glare. Like the pointed teeth and claws weren't enough.

Getting to the room without much hassle Roy looked around the room noting that it was exactly how he pictured it. Clean with a section designated strictly for his computers (yes plural) and TV with full system. And he came over to Roy's apartment again because?

Shuffling through the only questionable side of the room Dick produced a very old and worn looking wooden box. From where Roy stood he could see the faded decorations and words.

"Me and Wally had found this in the room as well," Dick said handing Roy the wooden box. "We couldn't get it open, aside from trying to break it." Picking up the Superman plushie Ace had dropped at his feet he threw it watching the bat-dog disappear down the hall.

The older male inspected it going through every possible way he could think, past breaking it, to open the top and find out just what the papers where inside. It didn't look like the hinges had been welded nor the lock.

"Happen to find a key?"

Picking up the plushie again Dick tossed it lazily in the air his vale of nonchalance or was it carelessness? Roy really couldn't tell completely useless against the older male. "None." Throwing what was left of the Superman plushie (Ace had taken off an arm, leg, and the Man of Steels head,) he turned to his oldest friend. "Me and Wally had gone through the whole of all the boxes we had searched through. Nothing."

"Either break it or pick it."

"Don't you think I've tried that already?"

"Well then you either suck at it or you lost your touch. Move it Pippin."

Brushing past the younger male Roy opened his bow case taking out the single arrow that was housed inside. Picking at the quill he extracted it from the end of the arrow to reveal a shaper point. _Since when did Roy get more sneaky with his toys_? Dick wondered bringing his attention back to what he was doing.

Face set in concentration Roy bent over the box tilted on its back before jamming the end of the quill into the lock. Giving it a hard turn he was met with a small click before extracting the quill and opening up the box, a smug look on his face.

"You probably broke it," Dick said before making his way over to the desk.

"Don't hate kid."

Rolling his eyes Dick opened the box with little trouble seeing as the hinges looked like they had been made some thousand years ago. He was once again faced with photos, black and white all of which he had never seen before.

Picking up the first one of his mother and an unknown male he stared at it for a long time before really looking at it. Dick could confidently say that he had never seen the male before sitting next to the younger version of his mother. While his mother was laughing her arms wrapped around the younger male he had a scowl on his face eyes set in a glare. Somehow Dick could tell that she was laughing at the kid's expense as he remembered wearing that face plenty of times. Never once had it been meant.

He was maybe about seven or eight , his mother about seventeen or eighteen at the time it was taken. That was at least a year before she had met his father and four before he was born. The male had dark hair and eyes, piercing for someone so young, a locket style pocket watch around his neck.

_Could this be her younger brother? Or cousin_? Dick thought flipping the picture over. Nothing was written on the back. Going through the others he found similar ones of his mother this time with the unnamed kid and others, another little boy, definitely no older than one and three young girls all from six to four years old. In one of them they all had been laughing including the boy scowling in the first picture.

Placing the photos down Dick couldn't help but think maybe he hadn't known his parents at all. Sure he had been nine when they passed, but would they have told him any of this he wondered. It was made clear that Bruce hadn't trusted him with any of this information as the older male was sure to know all of this…He wasn't the Batman for anything and why keep it and not have gone through it with the whole 'You would have been told when you're older spiel'.

If his mother was hiding her family, or her whole past life from him, Dick wanted to know just what his father was hiding. Now he was completely sure there was more of a reason for them to have joined the circus than because they were traveling gypsies.

Picking up the last of the papers left in the box Dick's expression changed as he felt a weight to the paper he had in his hands. It had been folded over holding something in between its sheets. Turning it over and over so as not to rip it less it be important later on he found a small fold that had marked it being sealed, took out his birdrang and carefully cut along the mark. Dumping the package into his hand Dick's eyes grew wide.

"It's a pendant." It was sectioned in four pieces, the main body circular in shape, possible onyx stone with a dragon inlaid in silver and rose gold. It's claws were wrapped around a sake jug one character in the middle. Surrounding the black stone was a silver ring an attachment loop at the bottom in which hung an upside down silver fan, Chinese characters written down its length.

Fixed on the chain were two guardian lions not unlike the ones on the wooden box on either side of the dragon. A sword was in the mouth of each crossing in the back of the dragon.

He had never seen the pendant before till now.

"Is there a possibility this has to do with that mission?" Roy asked the first to speak. The pendant was definitely something you would not find on the streets.

"He didn't say anything about a pendant. I don't know." Plopping down Dick put his head in his hands rubbing his face tiredly.

Staring at his younger friend Roy shook his head before taking up the pendant striding over to Dick's open laptop. Thankful that the male had left it open, it would have been hell trying to hack into the bird's computer he went straight to _Google_ and typed in 'Dragon and Guardian Lion pendant.'

Through images he got nothing of use. Narrowing his eyes Roy figured to do separate searches of the two and see what he could find. Pages and pages later Roy found that the dragon was one of the highest symbols in Chinese culture, representing many times the Emperor of the vast country. The guardian lion was a symbol of protection set before imperial palaces and temples.

Somehow he felt like none of that was what the pendant was put together for. Especially if the swords and sake jug were any indication. He couldn't even begin to think where the fan played into all of that.

"We'll work this out," Roy said closing the laptop. Looking over to Dick who still had his head in his hands Roy looked to Ace who was at the moment trying to get the ravens attention, biting his shoes to no avail. Calling Ace over to him he waited for the puppy to trot over to him before picking him up.

"You want to learn how to fly?"

Yipping Ace set his eyes right on his raven haired master ready to pounce when given the signal. Kneeling down Roy tapped the floor three times before feeling a small weight on his back then his shoulders and finally his head as Ace used him as a spring board to launch into the air and right into Dick, the younger male not knowing what hit him.

Falling back into the bed Dick was met with a very wet and warm tongue to the face. "Ace, what the –?" Finally getting the four legged bat under control he was met by two sets of glares, one more comical than the other.

Ace barked twice before giving Dick one last lick to the face.

"Alright, alright," he said rubbing the pup behind the ears. "I'll get traught. Jeesh. That's the last time I take you with me when I practice." At this Ace growled making the teen smile.

-X-

Its eyes were gray. The same grey as the billowing smoke from the many fires raging around its destruction. Houses crushed in its wake. The cries of people in pain, the cries of those dying, the cries of people in search of loved ones in pain, dying, carried through the air like a balloon let go by a small child – floating for all to see yet too far to be reached…too far to be helped, and too insignificant for many to care. Floating away in the wind to never be seen from or heard from again.

Its eyes were empty, and cold, like many of the corpses lying at its feet. Its stone colored claws now crimson stained with its victim's blood. Their blood, dripping from sharp fangs that had just torn at flesh of old and flesh of young.

The smell of burned wood, of scorched earth, of cooked flesh and bone, rotting corpse hit the senses like a train to a brick wall. Too much at once; too much…It was all _too much_.

Running…running away from the cries, running away from the death, running away from the blood, and the smell of burnt everything, running. To where? A field…No grey eyes like smoke, no stone colored claws bathed in ruby liquid, in scarlet liquid, no cries of pain, no burning smell of burnt wood or flesh. Just the beautiful smell of flowers and the rushing sound of a small river.

Blue ice cold water, no red, no grey, no smoke. Peace. A log floats down the river…No…it's not a log but a…a person. A person floating on their back. The water is cold soaking everything but still it is not red. Maybe, just maybe…No…No, no, no, no…nononononono.

Empty.

Their eyes are empty, red streaming from a hole in their head…between their eyes red runs down into the blue ice cold water. More logs…More people washing down the river staining the once ice cold water with scarlet liquid…red liquid….once warm…It's back the stench, the color, the smell.

Grey eyes like smoke. Grey eyes that kill. A blood curdling roar; a gunshot.

Bolting upright Ying buried his face into his hands trying to calm down his breathing. _Those images, Kami those images_…They were just that. Nothing more than his imagination piecing together what he had read in the book not too long ago. Every gruesome death handed down by the Nian onto the people of those villages. But the bodies; the bodies littering the river with bullets…_No_. Shaking his head the male got up on shaky legs fumbling around his drawer for his lighter. Finding it beneath stacks of papers and other odds he walked along the cold floor on bare feet bringing life to the candles that sat dormant throughout the room.

Stripping off his tank he stood in the middle of his large studio apartment in nothing more than a pair of sweatpants breathing. Just breathing before he slowly, ever so slowly began falling into his Taekwondo forms starting from the most basic to the more advanced.

Truth be told he couldn't bring fault to the book for these nightmares. Plaguing his sleep more often than he would care to acknowledge it had just seemed more real than normal. Fumbling through his forms Ying stopped to get his bearings straight before starting from the beginning. _Ignore the images, ignore the sounds, ignore the pain, focus on breathing, focus on the smell of the candles, the warmth of the flame_.

Flame…grey eyes like smoke…red claws that…"_Ie_." Steadying his quickening pulse for what felt like the hundredth time that night Ying closed his eyes and once again went through his forms this time with more aggression than necessary. He needed not to think. Thinking right now was not his friend. Come to find it never was. If he had not of thought he would not be in this predicament right now, he would not be in this country where things still did not make a lick of sense to him, where the people were just as weird with their actions.

Eyes closed off to the sights around him Ying was brought to his senses by a draft he knew should not be coming into his room. Reaching back into his waistband whirling to his intruder he stopped when brown eyes locked onto a dark shadow in front of his open window. His body relaxed but only slightly.

Standing at the window Batman watched as the male removed his hand from grabbing what, he wasn't sure and walked over to his desk, taking up a long sleeved button up before putting it on. In the dim flickering candle light he had been able to make out bandages on the males side, chest, arms and neck. Darker tones of what could be scars or tattoos ran down the male's right arm and what he could see of his left and right sides. He would find out exactly what later as the male walked back over to him.

A small rug floor in hand Ying dropped it in front of Batman. "I do not mind people inviting themselves in, but I do not allow anyone to walk into my apartment with shoes on."

Narrowing his eyes Batman stepped from the wooden floor onto the mat. "I'm not staying." Producing a few papers from seemingly nowhere he held them out for the male to take, "Familiar to you?"

Taking the papers Ying squinted at them in the dim light without his glasses the bat wondering why he just didn't turn on the overhead light or a lamp. Studying his facial expressions once again he noted this time the males face was carefully neutral as he read and handed back the newspaper clipping "I did not hit this factory. Honestly I did not know it was one of theirs."

Taking back the newspaper clippings Batman narrowed his eyes at the male, "Where?" He never told him what places to find his information as of yet they were still searching for possible facilities within the U.S. for him to be given just a few days coming to them with information. Batman was not a man of coincidences.

"There is an old mill not an hours drive away near the sound." Walking back over to his desk Ying shuffled through some papers before picking out one from the pile, crossed the room and handed it to the older male. "Not all of the information the Young Justice picked up from their mission was useless. They managed to pick up coordinates of most of their factories within the U.S."

The Bat glowered down at the male as he took the paper. He remembered staring at this particular sheet for hours. It was a code of words, poems and numbers all in one. Trying every available trick he knew he hadn't been able to make out anything…so why could this kid who from what he could gather was neither book nor computer smart find this out?

"Care to explain?"

"School. When you come from a place where people hide notes in baked goods during times of war and write 'backwards,' you learn a lot of war tactics to keep words private."

The bat was not buying it. He had held a private conversation with the Crimson Avenger just the day before about the male. Among the few things he learned Ying had not even finished grade school for reasons the much older male was not going to delve into. He did come from a relatively small village out in western China which could be the reason but his frame did not say much for hard labor in the fields.

He must have had some form of formal learning, however. Both his speech in English as well as writing and comprehension of his own language proved so.

"Is there anything else I can help you with Batman?"

"Am I keeping you from something?"

"I was in the middle of forms before you invited yourself in."

"At one in the morning?"

"Eat when hungry, sleep when tired. [1] I doubt you would come knocking if you thought I was sleeping." Glaring at the male whom kept his gaze for a bit before dropping it he watched as Ying rubbed the side of his neck with the bandage. "What can I help you with?"

"It's Sunday."

As if that were enough of a clue for the younger male Batman waited all of a minute before realization dawned in brown eyes. "It seems to stand that it is Ultra-Humanite…along with Lex Luthor. The two may be working together."

Once again Batman was skeptical on how the male was able to get his information so fast. "How reliable is your source."

"Reliable as a weatherman."

Taking that for what it was at the time Batman headed back towards the window. "The book you're borrowing from Robin, anything you find _I_ want to know."

A few emotions flashed through Ying's eyes before it settled on one, curiosity. "So you did not know about it."

Narrowing his eyes further at the male's implications Batman stood to full height inwardly smirking as the male took a small step back. "If anything happens to him or the others while under your charge –"

"You have my word."

Staring down the male for another few seconds Batman turned to leave back out of the window from which he came. "You want to tell me something now or later…Before I find out about it."

"Like what?"

"How you actually found out about the items." The Caped Crusader didn't have to turn around to know that he had shocked the younger male, His silence was enough. "Or what your goal really is."

"You are as they say."

He wasn't going to get any more out of the male today that he knew. "Report to me or Canary when you find anything else on the Jade Sun," Batman growled out before leaving. He'd continue building up the males bio with the fingerprints obtained from the newspaper clippings. Something wasn't adding up.

End

And the hits just keep coming.

[1] From a Zen Buddhism story. Different renditions but- **A student once asked his teacher, "Master, what is enlightenment?" The master replied, "When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep." **So in the case of Ying using it to answer Batman he's not really using it correctly…Or is he?

**Next on Effects of Black and White**

"Match-"

"_Ie_," Ying growled out stopping Black Canary. Apparently he wasn't the only one who had noticed his facial expression having grown dark. Getting up from the male he grabbed Kaldur by his upper arm hoisting him to his feet. They stared at each other both out of breath before Ying pushed the Atlantean male almost making him land back down on the ground.

"What are you –" Kaldur had to block a swing thrown directly at his face before side stepping a front kick. _Was Ying really attacking him after the fight was over?_ Dodging blows left and right Kaldur finally got fed up and, charging up his tattoos and whips struck back catching the older male in the face.


	15. Chapter 15

**Own Young Justice I do not**

Thank you for the reviews, favs and the like always appreciated and make me And a happy writer is a good writer.

**insanebluecat**- Thank you for the review. I will definitely check into this saga. Never read the comics so much of what I'm doing for this story comes from watching the cartoons and movies with my own twisted mind. XD. Once again thanx. XD

**Sunday****  
><strong>_12:17 p.m._

"What do you want to tell Lady Lei?" Kaito asked rolling his cigarette between his fingers.

After the call the day before, Dante and he had finally met up to talk about what had happened. The extra day was accounted for due to Dante wanting to know exactly what was going on before anything was spoken of. He was ever the perfectionist. That and dealing with the press in America had the male almost pulling out his beard and shooting someone, the latter not being a new habit.

"As of right now…Nothing," Placing the cigar to his lips, Dante took a long drag before slowly blowing it out watching the smoke dance in the office air. "What was taken…Mitsuhide informed me was nothing more than past flight plans. Those can easily be destroyed and or changed whichever comes first. I was planning on switching countries anyway after our little run in with Eiji and the League Brats. By the way," Chucking his lighter full force at Kaito who easily caught it he whirled on the male. "What twisted deranged things go on inside that head of yours for you to even think about egging _Batman_, of all people, on?"

"Weren't you the one who goaded his kids?"

"I merely stated they weren't going to find anything which really they aren't. That powder was nothing more than an old batch of our original product. You on the other hand invite the bull to the party."

"Lady Lei wanted him to know Ueda. Why else would he have been sending them to begin with?" Stamping out his cigarette on the bottom of his shoe Kaito placed it behind his ear. "Besides did you have to kill him?"

"If he was able to find out where we placed that, how long do you think it would take him 'till he found the new stuff."

Taking out a photo from his pocket Dante walked over to his counterpart and shoved it at him. "This is our little ghost. Seen them before?"

Studying the figure that thankfully the cameras had taken a picture of, Kaito shook his head. "No. Does look a bit like Cheshire from the Light though." Handing the irate male back the photo he counted down from three to one before Dante blew up yet again.

"I told you yesterday it's not _her_. This," he jabbed the photo pointedly fixed on the outfit. "Is Shadow Oni…Those bastards just won't let up."

"You killed one of their men months ago. I'm surprised they didn't kill Mitsuhide…Not that I would want them to," he added when Dante's eyes hardened into a dangerous glare.

"They killed five of my men without so much as a word said between them. They better be glad I didn't kill their boss when I had the chance. Damn Lady Lei."

"She still needs him alive and when the time comes, I'm sure she'll let you take it."

"There is no sure, I will." Walking back over to his desk Dante opened up his drawer taking out a small black ring case. Tossing it this time to the younger male his hand itched to his gun at what his counterpart had said.

"You know when you propose to someone it's normally done on one knee."

"Just open it you idiot!"

Chuckling Kaito popped the box open his smirk turning into a full blown smile. "You sir, have just made Lady Lei a happy woman."

"No, _we_ have," Dante said with a smirk.

-X-

_3:48 p.m_.

Robin sat on the sofa of the cave playing versus mode on Tekken. After school he had headed straight over to the cave after texting Roy. The male was more than likely still sleeping after the late night yesterday. While the bat had fallen asleep somewhere around 2 maybe 3 he was more than sure Roy hadn't till 5 or 6 that morning.

The cave was relatively empty not including Kaldur and Conner who were playing chess in the kitchen, M'gann baking this time a few pies. By now she had gotten relatively good with baking, trying her hand on other foods. Artemis was off with Green Arrow at a shooting range per her request and Raquel and Zatanna where out playing one-on-one volleyball.

**Recognize Kid Flash B03**

"So, how'd patrol go with Flash last night?" Robin asked once he felt the familiar breeze of air accompanied by the side visual of his best friend.

"Not a word," Wally said easing down into the seat. If he was still feeling it then it must not have been good.

"Cold or Mirror Master?"

"Both," Wally said kicking up his feet. "Who told them it was okay to rob a bank, simultaneously? Then Captain Boomerang comes out of nowhere taking people hostage at a movie theatre for what? We still don't know. Between all of that I think I still have ice burn on my back."

"Sucks dude," Robin said, pausing his game. Reaching into his pocket after looking around the room real quick he tossed the item to Wally who even with his eyes closed caught it without any trouble. "Found this with Roy last night."

Sitting up Wally studied the pendant coming to the same questions that Roy and his young best friend had been asking the night before, opting to talk about those matters when he was in the company of just Robin and Roy he took to another route. "So you did go back to the manner."

"Yeah, and Ace says hi."

Cringing Wally held back out the pendant, Robin taking it, "Crazy bats and their dogs."

"Aw." Wally cringed this time for a whole new reason as his least favorite person had walked into the room. "Did Wallace get his butt handed to him today?"

"No, Apollo," Wally deadpanned. "Wallace did not."

"Alright love birds," Robin said snickering at the twin glares he received from the two. "If you're going to keep arguing I'm going to suggest you get a room."

Looking to Wally with an evil smirk the redhead watched as she knelt down to Robin's ear whispering something. Whatever it was made the little bird turn a bright shade of pink as he quickly excused himself saying he was going to watch Kaldur and Conner's game of chess.

"What did you say to him?" Wally asked trying hard not to laugh as the little bat had apparently been schooled at his own games. Artemis, instead of saying it out loud beckoned the male over whispering it into his ear as well.

Bursting out in laughter Wally nearly fell on the floor trying hard to gain back his breath. She did not just say that to the mini-bat. Oh this was just golden. He had a new found respect for the blonde haired harpy.

-X-

8:28p.m.

"Well now does everyone feel like this?" Ying asked relatively calm for the occasion.

Ying had arrived at the cave around 8-ish. Having talked to the others about the notes, apologizing for his abrupt leave he was then bombarded with questions from all sides. Finding himself in a random meeting room, surrounded by the Young Justice and Roy, was not at all pleasing in the least.

At least all of the members present had voiced their displeasure in him being the team leader for this mission disagreeing whole heartedly how he conducted himself. Who was he to disagree? They had been used to Kaldur's way of leading to have some new guy dumped on them. If he were in their shoes he'd probably act the same way. But he wasn't and didn't plan on it.

Robin could tell that the older male was as tense as when they first met him, if not more so biding his time, for what the mini bat did not know. He couldn't blame him for it; being glared at by a lot of eyes from people who could beat the snot out of you would do that to anyone.

"You said yourself that you would rather not lead," Roy said crossing his arms. Either the male was going to take his roll seriously during this mission or step down. He wasn't going to listen to some half assed male regardless of him being older or not, especially when it came to the safety of his younger brothers.

"Maybe you should step down for the time being and let Kaldur and Roy take this over," Raquel voiced not at all hindered in her speech by the males cold gaze.

"Yes that does sound like a good plan," Ying said sitting down on the ground legs crossed beneath him. The fact the male was sitting allowed for him to look like less of a threat, less imposing as he was going to drill into them soon enough. "But how far does a blind man lead his people till they all fall off a cliff?" His voice was just as light as ever but Ying's eyes held a hard glint to them that didn't look right with his otherwise neutral gaze.

Kaldur stepping closer to the male locked steel grey with dark brown. "You act off of other people never from your own thought. That is not very trustworthy Ying. We want to trust you, but your actions are not saying much."

Closing his eyes in resignation Ying sighed. "Then what would you have me do?"

"Tell us the truth."

Letting out a puff of air that at any other time could have been mistaken for a laugh Ying cracked an eye open before closing it. "I have."

"Not telling us something because you _can't _is not telling us the truth," Artemis spoke crossing her arms across her chest.

The first sign of true agitation ran across the male's face before he steeled himself opting at this point to remain silent. A few more minutes of badgering, however, from the teens almost made him want to pull his hair out.

"Have you all told each other everything about yourselves?" Ying said opening his eyes. "The answer to that is no, you have not," Ying spoke looking from one face to the other. "Everyone has something they either can't tell the people close to them for a number of reasons. To be honest I know nothing about any of you either. A name and team sure, mentors, okay, but I am not the only one who has secrets."

"You asked us to help you on this mission –"

"I asked for the _League's_ help and they gave me you all." Holding up his hand before any of them cut him off for the implications he continued. "Personally I feel like you can handle the mission, but if I keep getting badgered then you will be looking for someone else to do this and that will take you a while."

"Trust is a two way street," Wally said biting into an apple. Personally he agreed with the older male. They didn't know everything about each other, for the most part, so why should he be the only one subjected to the scrutiny. But if they were to do anything on this then they'd need to know more than just what they had been given.

"You say that you got to know a person by fighting; that is true of my people as well. You and I shall fight," Kaldur said turning slightly towards the entrance. "Just like with Black Canary it will be a friendly spar, but you will take this seriously."

Kaldur looked to the older male waiting for his response. Eyes closed he felt like the male had been ignoring him till brown sought out steel grey. Not a word was said as he stood and walked over to the Atlantean the whole while eyes still locked on one another. Stopping just a meter away Ying placed a closed fist to an open palm raising it to his chest.

Taking that as a sign of acceptance Kaldur turned around and walked to the training room Ying and the others following behind.

Having told Black Canary of their plans she didn't look too pleased at any of them, specifically Ying who merely shrugged his shoulders. Looking to Kaldur and his more than serious demeanor she allowed the sparring match under the condition they started and stopped when she told them to. No sooner.

With that in mind the Young Justice found themselves in the training room about to watch their teammate and leader duke it out with their part-time leader. It wasn't so much a fight on picking sides as it was for principle. Maybe after this, Ying would take them seriously and not treat them like kids who couldn't handle the truth.

"What are you doing?" Kaldur stood in the middle of the training room watching as Ying was off to the side taking off his shoes and socks, moving to his vest.

Unbuttoning and stripping off his vest till he was just in jeans and a long sleeved shirt Ying glanced up to the dark skinned male before attending to his hair retying it into a tighter bun at the back of his head. "Taking this seriously or should I half-ass this too?"

"Now I really hope Kaldur kicks his butt," Raquel mumbled.

Looking from one male to the other Black Canary shook her head before turning to Kaldur. "Weapons?"

"Are you unarmed?" Kaldur asked the older male. They still had yet to know if the male so much as carried a baton with him. He would be the first completely unarmed member of the team if not. For some reason, however, Kaldur knew that was not the case.

"It would not matter."

Narrowing his eyes at the male's overconfident words Kaldur placed his hands upon his water whips waiting for Ying to enter the zone. He would not make the mistake of underestimating the male. He had seen him spar with Black Canary and although neither were taking it serious he knew he'd have to watch out.

Taking his whips out of their holster hands at his sides Kaldur let his tattoos light up in anticipation water already dancing at the tips. He would need to finish this fight quick.

"I Agree," Ying said walking into the circle.

"Weapons allowed," Black Canary stated at her side. Turning to Ying she asked him what his condition for the fight was.

"One match, no two out of three, no recalls. First one both shoulders on the ground for five seconds loses."

"Agreed."

Placing the whistle to her lips Black Canary signaled for the beginning of the match hoping something good came out of this.

As the two males engaged in their fight Robin noticed a few things about the Asian male. Although wearing clothes that would hinder any fighter he moved as easily as the rest of them even keeping Kaldur on the defensive. His strikes held more purpose in them than when he fought Canary, his facial expression set hard like stone instead of the slightly carefree one he normally seemed to have. He kept close to the younger male not allowing him the momentum he needed to do real damage.

Every time Kaldur managed to flip over the male or get a step away Ying was right there in front of him again non-relenting in his attacks. Only when he managed a solid hit on the Atlantean did he take that step back waiting for the younger male to catch his bearings. It never took long, but the others could tell it frustrated the blonde. He too had managed to land a few hits, but most seemed to have been ineffective, the male bouncing right back like he had done with Canary.

Only a few minutes passed with the fight becoming more and more heated until Ying came up as the victor having taken Kaldur's moment of hesitance to his advantage knocking him down to the ground effectively pinning him.

"Did Kaldur just throw the match?" Artemis asked no one in particular. She knew she wasn't the only one who had noticed the blonde male hesitate. He hadn't even really used his whips to their full potential knowing he could have won minutes before if he had done so.

"Match-"

"_Ie_," Ying growled out stopping Black Canary. Apparently he wasn't the only one who had noticed his facial expression having grown dark. Getting up from the male he grabbed Kaldur by his upper arm hoisting him to his feet. They stared at each other both out of breath before Ying pushed the Atlantean male almost making him land back down on the ground.

"What are you –" Kaldur had to block a swing thrown directly at his face before side stepping a front kick. _Was Ying really attacking him after the fight was over?_ Dodging blows left and right Kaldur finally got fed up and, charging up his tattoos and whips struck back catching the older male in the face.

Like the time before with Black Canary Ying used the momentum of the hit to conduct his own strike catching Kaldur in the back in the process. They both went down and hard.

About to aid their friend the members of Young Justice stopped when they received a freezing glare from Black Canary. The older woman returned her gaze to the fight not saying a word or lifting a finger to stop the two.

Rolling into a crouch Ying stayed that way as he watched Kaldur slowly rise to his feet. A second longer and the fight would have been his again. That was not what the male wanted. Now standing both males circled the floor before charging in Kaldur using his water whips to trip up the male only managing to gain some distance between the two.

The male was still at this point unarmed. _Would it be fair to electrocute him?_ Knowing that Ying was already injured and possibly more so after their first fight made Kaldur hesitate yet again getting caught in the stomach by a kick. "_De2dao4 yan2zhong4_!"[1] Ying shouted before charging back into the fight.

Ying's fighting style was getting more and more brutal by the second and yet Black Canary still had yet to call the match. Even when he wasn't the one attacking every block he did had enough power to send the Atlantean half a step back.

Kaldur struck Ying in the side the force of the blow sending him farther back than intended. Watching the male slowly get up Kaldur wondered if he had hit him too hard noticing him favor that side. Fully erect Ying flicked his right wrist a metal fan appearing seemingly from nowhere.

Not having the time to discern from where it came, Kaldur blocked a well-placed hit intended for his throat. Ying had become more and more brutal as the seconds ticked with each hit aiming for vitals and exploiting Kaldur's weak points. If the Atlantean even wanted a chance he'd have to act right then and there.

Knocking the male away he began his assault again keeping Ying as far away as possible. The male to his credit had dodged almost every attack knocking the others with his fan. He had already realized earlier in their second match that it was a bad idea to grab any part of the whips, his hands still buzzing from the sting. _Finally._

The fight went on for minutes neither side this time backing down. Whether this had been Ying's intentions for attacking Kaldur after the first match or not was anyone's guess. By the way Black Canary had stopped them Robin could say that was a pretty accurate desertion.

Having knocked Ying away from him for the second time Kaldur was not expecting what came next. Having noticed the fan itself was shaped oddly the ends shaped cylindrically he watched as the male pulled at the cylinders revealing them to be darts. Tossing them they were easily deflected by Kaldur's water as he continued to attack the male afterwards, careful not to jump into anything less that wasn't the only trick they could do.

Having fought each other for now 15 minutes straight the spectators could see that both males were wearing down having already been past their second wind. Stepping back from Ying's attacks Kaldur seemed to be luring the older male into a trap until he slipped on one of the darts. Not having enough time to catch his balance Kaldur was knocked to the ground. With a firm pressure to his throat Ying had his knee resting most of his weight on the male's chest the other leg keeping him anchored just in case Kaldur could in fact get out of the choke, his fan pressed to the Atlanteans throat.

If Ying even so much as slipped forward Kaldur would be a skewered fish even with his tougher than average skin.

"That is how you fight seriously," Getting up from the male Ying held out his hand for Kaldur to take the younger hesitating for only a second before accepting.

"You are a most fearsome opponent," Kaldur said in a way of commending the male.

"Fearsome, but not fearless…Good match,' Ying said patting Kaldur on the shoulder before turning to Black Canary. "Excuse me." Bowing out to the team he headed to the entrance only making it a few steps before he stumbled collapsing to the ground.

-X-

"I'm going to need you to either take off or lift up your shirt Ying," Black Canary said tapping her foot against the floor. Having been passed out when they got him to the room Ying had come to just when Black Canary was about to assess his injury flipping off the table and onto the floor. Not one of his most graceful moves by far.

She could say she felt a bit scared when the male had just collapsed like that, Kaldur's face mimicking her own. Rushing to the male she gently turned him over noticing that even out cold he had a hand to his side – the same one he had been 'grazed,' in a few days prior. Narrowing her eyes she called to Roy already feeling Kaldur slowly lift up the older male.

He had been completely out of it by then making it hard to get him there without damaging anything further.

_Seems like he's not that bad_,' Black Canary thought to herself before inwardly sighing.

Raised eyebrows in question Black Canary sighed again, this time out loud before holding up her hands. "I was only going to treat your side. It wasn't the smartest thing fighting like that while injured."

Staring at the female Ying nodded his head completely agreeing with the older woman before slowly getting up with Black Canary's help. Wanting to ask him about his tendency to tense around people, especially when in striking zones, she opted to do so later. Sitting down on the table Ying went back to holding his side, eyes cast to the wall behind Canary's head.

"You learn a lot about people when fighting," Ying said lifting his shirt enough for Black Canary to get to the wound at his side and nothing more. He could argue with her that he'd be able to do this himself like he had before but thought better. With the way she talked to Roy he wasn't getting out of this. Sure enough it had started bleeding again seeping through the bandage he had placed there that morning, the area around it black and blue most from his fall off the building. Wondering if he had told Black Canary about the fall he closed his mouth. He had told the team…That should be good enough.

"And if he hit you hard enough breaking a rib, they're cracked Ying." As if to further prove that she pressed lightly on the area eliciting a slight gasp from the male.

"They were already cracked," Ying said in defense of the younger male. Really he shouldn't have fought. Internally shrugging there was nothing he could do about it now. "At least they can learn something about this mission. They need to know none of this can be taken lightly. People have died over these items. I want to make sure that does not happen this time around."

"Good luck with that if you're dead," Black Canary reprimanded wrapping his side. Kaldur was right in his diagnosis. He was a fearsome opponent when serious. The fact that he was willing to take a hit from an opponent was both strategic and stupid. Now she wondered if he had gotten shot on purpose.

Cutting the access gauze Black Canary placed down her scissors to truly study the male. She was sure he had noticed she'd seen the scars lining his torso. Of what she'd seen when he had lifted his shirt he had at least seven running in every direction some extending further up than he was willing to show and further down past his waistband.

That would explain why he nearly killed himself flipping off the table. He was probably not keen on showing his scars to anyone.

Studying him further she came across something else. "You haven't been sleeping have you?" Black Canary asked the male. Sitting just a few feet away and him without his glasses she could see the darkening circles under his eyes even with his bangs doing somewhat of a good job shielding his orbs. Between this mission, the one from Batman, and his work with Crimson including his actual job, whatever that was, when did the male find the time?

"Not as much lately, no," Ying admitted pulling his shirt back down over his wound now that it had been patched up. She could see that he was nervous fiddling with the ends of his gloves.

Putting the rest of the tapes and gauze away Black Canary turned to the male. "You know you can always talk to one of us about what's bothering you. Missions can take a lot out of people."

Smiling to what Black Canary could tell as fake, Ying slowly got down from the table. "It is not the missions." Bowing to the older female Ying thanked her before leaving the room.

People ditching her was making Black Canary feel like she needed to reevaluate her career choice.

-X-

Having met up with the rest of the team after somehow ending up outside he reassured Kaldur that he was alright before delving into what he wanted to talk to them about.

"I wanted to once again apologize, you all are right. I need to trust you all a lot more than I have been. It may take some time, however, but if you are all willing to meet me halfway we can get this done and over with."

They talked for a while longer about the notes, clarifying anything up that was still unclear to any of the members. By the time they had finished the clock was rolling onto 10:34. Agreeing on their next meeting to take place the following Friday unless something where to pop up before then they split ways.

"Um…Robin could you hold up for just a second – You too Roy and Wally."

Looking towards the older male Robin quirked a brow before he and his two friends made their way back over. "What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you three about the book, well a part of it that I found."

"Is this something that you should be talking to the rest of the team about?" Wally asked crossing his arms. Did they not just talk about this two seconds ago?

Ying regarded the younger male for a second before turning his gaze down to the book in his hands. "Um..." Ying's eyes shifted back up to look at the others before him. "I have not finished translating the book, there is…a lot. Skimming through it this morning I found something else. That is what I wanted to give to you."

Undoing the ribbon that kept the book together Robin wondered what exactly the male had found and why he was practically destroying it right in front of him. Holding himself back from saying anything he continued to watch as Ying separated the book at a green page with two characters on it.

Taking the original ribbon he wound it back through the holes of the newly formed book before holding it out to Robin.

"This section here looks like a diary. I have not read it." Ying fingered the lettering on the front before looking to the black haired male. "I am sure there is a reason to why you have only told Roy and Wally about the book" blue eyes behind sunglasses narrowed, "– I am not going to ask." _Good because you weren't getting an answer,_ Robin thought staring down the male.

Holding the book out further the older male proceeded to hand him a slip of paper. "With the notes I gave you all and this part of the book back you all should be able to translate it without too much trouble, but if you do that is my number and a website that you can use…Just stay off of _Google_."

"So, you're giving this task to us."

"If it is something valuable to you then you should be the one to translate it, read it first. If it helps the mission tell only what helps…But this," Ying said holding up the rest of the book. "I unfortunately cannot give back."

"Yet or ever?" Roy asked. He was slowly starting to figure the male out.

"As of right now, ever…But things tend to change so until the end of the mission that is where it stands." As he spoke Ying had produced a crimson ribbon from his pocket tying through the holes of the book making it like it had never been taken apart.

Fingering through the diary Robin immediately became curious. "So how'd you figure it was a diary?"

"The characters on the front; 'Little Bird.' On the back is the saying _Zhè4 kě3néng2 huì4 bāng1zhù4 nǐ3 dá2dào4 nǐ3 de mèng4xiǎng3_, '_May this help you reach your dreams_.' And all of the pages are dated. I went no further than that."

"This isn't going to help your case with the rest of the team."

Turning to the older red head Ying studied the male before responding. "I am merely dividing work among members whom seem most fit to do this. Nothing more." Nodding his head Ying bid them farewell for the week and left the three males to their own thoughts.

Looking down to the diary that he held in his hands Robin didn't know what to think at this point. Could this be the key to what he was looking for? Turning his hidden eyes to his two best friends it seemed like they all had been asking themselves that question.

"Little Bird."

**End**

**Translation  
><strong>

**[1]- Get serious!  
><strong>

**Next on Effects of Black and White  
><strong>

It was a ring. Cut from an onyx stone it had a jade dragon head on the top, small ruby's encircling it. Running down one side where silver rose petals with Chinese characters running on the other side also in silver. Looking the ring over she couldn't find the Nian symbol like Ying had said would be there. Handing off the piece of jewelry to Rocket to see if she could find it Artemis continued to check the room before pressing her com to talk to Ying.

"We may have found one of the items."

/Which one?/ Was it her or did Ying sound a bit odd?

"Are you drunk?" Artemis asked remembering that the male had said he and the other two males were headed to a club. _Information my ass._


	16. Chapter 16

**Own Young Justice I do not**

Thank you for the reviews, favs and the like always appreciated and make me And a happy writer is a good writer.

**Thursday **

The village was on fire, ashes floating through the air like black snow coating everything in its wake. Dry snow, greying everything that was once green as people ran around fires screaming. Nothing…No sound was heard as people ran from burning buildings, screaming, yelling, some even on fire. Bodies, dead, littering the ground, some dying as they took their last breaths mouths moving wordlessly for loved ones that would never come, souls a already having left their bodies. A lonely doll lay on the ground its cloth face and body splattered with blood.

Piercing grey eyes like smoke rising into the air, almost as black as a deep sea abyss. No feeling in those depths, no emotions. Just cold. With all of this swirling fire, heat that should be too much to handle, was stifled under wintry gaze. Rearing its head back opening jaws laden with blood stained teeth, the crimson life essence mingled with saliva dripping onto scarlet stained fur and claws. Claws that were once the color of stone.

This wasn't right. This shouldn't be right. The village shouldn't be on fire, the people shouldn't be screaming, they shouldn't be on fire screaming and yet no sound coming out…Burning. People burning. The flesh of people young and old burning. The sound of screams hit the sense finally catching up with the scene. No. This couldn't be happening this was not supposed to be happening.

That once beautiful fur was not supposed to be stained with crimson. Stone claws should be just that. Eyes should be full of life and love, not cold and unfeeling like the smoke rising into the air, dissipating into nothing mixing with the ash like snow. No.

Bolting upright Ying placed his head in his hands breathing slowly to himself trying to get his heart to stop running a triathlon in his chest. Turning to his clock he glared at the electronic. _3:57 a.m. _

That had been the second of those dreams that night making it eight in total over the week. Turning his hateful gaze from his alarm clock to the book sitting open on his desk he switched off the electronic apparatus knowing he wasn't going to need the beeping machine to tell him when to get up for work. He was, at the moment, not going to be getting any more sleep as it was.

Getting up from his bed he once again tread to the middle of his studio falling into his Taekwondo forms. They didn't seem to be helping as much as they had in the beginning the dreams coming more and more frequent…more and more _vivid_. He thought about talking with Black Canary about it, but couldn't. Or more like wouldn't he wasn't sure anymore.

Anytime he thought about the dreams he would become short of breath his chest constricting in pain. He wasn't all too familiar with the feeling, but knew it enough to give it a name. _Fear_. He was afraid of the Nian, of what it had done and what it could do. Pausing mid step through Taeguek Chil Jang, Ying shook his head refocusing his thoughts on his forms starting all over again from the top. He should have just started mediating and called it a day.

The mission had been a dead end since he had found the gun so either the gang had wised up or their supplier had. With nothing on the slippery eel of a man, Luther, he could only keep looking for more leads while working on the mission for Batman. He was at least making some headway there. Having hit four other factories within the City he had pulled enough information for Batman to get concrete evidence on the new drug even a name. Bath Salts.

(A/N…Yea I went there.)

Keeping his train of thought away from the contents of the book he focused on the diary he had given Robin, Wally, and Roy. It could be possible it had to do with the Nian, but maybe not. Either way he hadn't heard anything from the trio so either they were doing fine translating the book and didn't need any help, leading him to believe that there was nothing about the Nian what-so-ever, or they were having the worst possible time. At least they would understand how he felt learning English.

He allowed himself a small perverse smile at the thought of someone else's misery before letting it slip feeling the now too familiar wind of his window being forced open. Ying turned to the Dark Knight who had entered his apartment stepping onto the mat he left there the first night.

"We need to talk."

-X-

_3:16 p.m._

It had been four days. Four days since Ying had given him the book and still he wasn't able to translate it not a single page. It was one thing to be given a book full of characters. It was another to be given a pair of notes with both characters and English translation. It was not okay when neither language was written out let alone read like the other. It was not okay when there was no way of knowing what word was what and the website was not helping!

Sure they could copy the characters into the little drawing pad portion of the site, but half the time they did the characters that weren't the ones they were attempting to draw would pop up. Dick knew that he and his brothers were no Picasso, but _COME ON_!

Rubbing his eyes tiredly he could only accurately say that Ying had truthfully translated the front page and the back of it. The dates had been the easiest things so translate at least. It started in 1995 till 2002. A few entries per month. Now if he could just find out what those entries said.

This at least confirmed that they may not have anything to do with the Nian. The dates on the notes had been years before the ones on the diary. Definitely more recent being within the 1990's and 2000's, but why exactly had they been placed with the book was a whole new ball game. Besides Ying, no one had even read the book so far, the male saying that he was still translating it. Knowing that it wouldn't have taken him too long to read it he must have been writing it out in English for them if they needed to know.

Shrugging Dick looked over to the useless notes that couldn't help him in translating the book before flipping them over to the blank side. He was so whelmed right now. Not as much when seeing the inside of the Hall for the first time, but he was getting there.

Placing the diary down Dick picked up the pendant now hanging around his neck. He had started wearing it two days ago figuring maybe it would help him find out what he was looking for. The thought of visiting Jack crossed his mind on more than one occasion especially after Wally had suggested it, but he just wasn't ready. He missed his circus family but with everything going on it was all feeling up to it at the moment.

Flipping through the book Dick stopped on the first entry page. July 7th 1995. That was all he was able to make out on the page. Sighing he flipped slowly through each page coming across the one with the light stain on its corner. Whatever it was had long since faded, obscuring at least five of the characters on that page. It was enough to get something of what they had once been, but without any knowledge it would be tough luck for him.

Flipping to the next page Dick stopped and flipped back. The pages seemed to be stuck together. Picking at the corner of the page, the one not damaged by the liquid, he was met with a surprising sight. On the two pages that had been hidden was a picture of the pendant he had around his neck, a whole note written underneath it.

Deciphering the date as August 21st 1995 there was nothing else that he could understand. Finally something that he could go off of! So either the pendant was his mother's and she knew all about this Nian, withholding it from him or someone had given her these things as safe keepings. Thinking back to the way Ying had looked at the book on first sight, however, made him believe that the book hadn't been seen for some time. He had acted like he didn't even know it existed. So what was his family doing with it?

Writing the dates on a flash card he stuck it in between the pages before continuing. If he started translating anything it would be those two pages and anything around them. A new fire had been lit and Dick was determined now more than ever to figure this all out. _Without the Bat's help._

Thinking about it they hadn't spoken much in the past few days. In passing Bruce had asked him how his classes and mission had been going but other than that neither had spoken on the fight a week ago. Having spent Tuesday night at Wally's he was given not so subtle hints from Barry that he should talk to the Caped Crusader.

Ever the fun enthusiastic older blonde haired version of Wally the older male could, in fact, act his age, despite what others said. Very good with advice, being married and all, he had taken the mini-bat aside to talk with him. Dick could say that as much as he didn't want to listen to 'Uncle Barry,' the male had not only hit the nail on the head, but was right. Didn't mean he was going to tell the male that let alone listen. Maybe he was taking after Roy more than they'd care to admit.

Closing the book Dick ran his hands over the characters like he had done on first seeing the book. Now knowing what the words had meant. "Little Bird." It had been a nickname his mother had given him saying that she had been called that by her mother. Her Little Bird Richie, Robin.

Packing his things up Dick was on his way to head to the Cave. They had finally been taken off of punishment which had somewhat turned into fun as they had come to get used to the long winded fights between Black Canary and Red Tornado, Captain Marvel joining in every once and a while. Between that Roy had been joining them more and more mostly when he didn't have night classes which per request and his major weren't often.

That had allowed the males to converse a lot more than they had before especially with Wally teaching the older male sign language. He never did say how he learned but knowing the younger redhead it was probably from one of the Rogues. He didn't know how the male could befriend his villains, but they were like puppies compared to those of Gotham. Unless you stepped into their turf or hurt Wally, those were the two big no no's. They could be just as bad as Flash with their mother Henning. He had been subject to it once before out with Kid Flash one day. It was one too many times for him and enough to know they all had problems.

-X-

_9:48 p.m_.

It was later at the cave none of the students expecting to see Ying earlier than planned. Walking into the living room Ying looked around without so much as uttering a greeting. Looking between the males Ying turned to Kaldur. "How old are you?"

Taken aback by the sudden question Kaldur blinked at the male closing his book. "Seventeen," the Atlantean answered with a questioning gaze. He'd have to agree with the others in that there was something off with the older male. What it was he wasn't completely sure.

"And you are," Ying stared at Roy making the male very uncomfortable. "Nineteen, yes?"

"What of it?"

"Don't think I can use either of you," Ying said before turning, making his way back to the zeta beams.

"For what exactly?" Roy asked peeved that the male had said absolutely nothing of importance. _What the heck was this guy's deal?_

"I found a lead," Ying said turning to face the team. "It is at a club down in the City. Neither one of you are 21 or over so I am regrettably going to have to go by myself."

Kaldur having gotten up while the male was talking blocked his way to the hall placing a hand on the males shoulder to stop him. "We already talked about this Ying." Dropping his hand back down to his side Kaldur turned the male to face the team. "We," emphasizing the two letter word, "are a team."

"_Ma2fan2 shi4_."[1] Looking between the two males Ying shrugged. "You both should be able to pass." Turning to the rest of the team Ying regarded them with a look before speaking. "While we are getting this information I would like you all to do something else," Ying handed Robin a photo of an older male, African American, grey hair, with wide set eyes wearing a three piece dark blue suit.

Pulling out a map next Robin was wondering just how the male got his information so easily without a computer or anything. It would be so much faster and proficient. Shrugging his shoulders he passed the photo to Wally before taking the map. He could download it into his gauntlet later.

"So you want us to tag the guy."

"I want you to enter the building; there is a window on the northeastern side of the building with the least amount of security. On the fourth floor third room to the left is an office. There is a possibility one of the items is in that room. Be careful to touch nothing just a sweep should be fine and if you see nothing leave. The picture is of Jay Wilson owner of a few law firms throughout America. The one I gave to you is in Upstate New York."

"Seeing as you all do not have to go I am leaving this to Robin, Kid Flash, and Zatanna. Miss Martian, Artemis, Superboy and Rocket, I am going to have you head down to a building also owned by him in Ohio." Handing over the building schematics Ying gave them the run through of that building as well before looking around deciding if he was forgetting something before finding what it was.

"Robin and M'gann, you both will be the team leaders for your group on this mission. Radio's should be fine, but if there is any activity other than regular security you leave, that is an order. My com will be on at all times I want to be radioed in every fifteen minutes."

"Alright let's go," Robin said draping an arm around Wally and Zatanna.

"And now for you two," Ying said turning back to Kaldur and Roy once the room was empty of everyone else. Taking out a black wallet from his front pocket he tossed it to Kaldur before producing one from his back. Roy's eyes narrowing into slits.

Wondering how the male got his wallet Ying took out the photo I.D of Roy stating his name was Liam Monroe 21, birthday April 16th 1990. "Liam…Nice." Pocketing the fake I.D he swapped it with one from his own pocket tossing the male his wallet back. "Let's go."

Curious as to what the male had done Roy opened his wallet to see another fake I.D staring at him. "Roger McCallen?" _How the hell did he have time to do this and when?_ Roy thought pocketing his wallet.

"Terrance Gordon," Kaldur questioned eliciting a shrug from the older male. "How did you even get our pictures?"

"Hi…Mi…Tsu,"[2] Ying said with a smirk. That did not bode well.

-X-

_11:37p.m._

When Ying said that they were going to a club Roy did not stop to think that it would be like this. The outside was old and beaten down looking with too many neon and beer signs hanging in the window. Smoke, whether it was from the man holes or the smoking non-clean air loving people in the inside seemed to blanket only around the seedy place.

Making it across the street they walked up to the entrance stopped by a burly black guy that reminded Roy of Mr. Bubbles from Lilo and Stitch. (Do not ask him how he knew that movie he still wanted to kill the mini-bat although he'd never admit he enjoyed watching it.)

"I.D's pal," he growled out placing his hand up to stop them. Like anyone would think to try and make it past him without doing so.

Reaching into his back pocket Ying opened up his wallet showing his I.D, Kaldur catching that it was his real one. _Why would he not switch it if they were on a mission? _Getting the clear he waited for the other two before walking into the club making his way straight to the bar. Sitting down he leaned across the table

"What'll it be boys?" The female bartender behind the counter asked. As per usual cleaning a glass with the same rag she had probably used to wipe down the table. _Oh joy_. She was tatted up with a cigarette hanging between her lips, jet black curly hair falling over her shoulders. She could be no more than 30 years old, but the smoking probably aged her a bit, her voice slightly raspy.

"Hi, I am looking for a man named Boone. Heard he owns the place."

Eying the male the woman went back to cleaning the glass as if she hadn't heard the male speak. Finally placing down the glass and rag she plucked the cigarette from her lips blowing the smoke out in Ying's face. "What business you got?"

"Business," Ying answered not missing a beat.

"Business," Chuckling the woman disappeared off into the back room for a few seconds before returning empty handed. Exchanging glances between each other Roy and Kaldur had a bad feeling about this.

"You looking for Boone?" Turning Roy was met with three, if it were possible, males bigger than Bubbles in front. What the hell did they feed people in this city?

-X-

_12:23a.m._

Security was practically nonexistent as Robin, Kid Flash, and Zatanna made their way through the building. Having taken their bikes it didn't take too long to get to their destination. (Going at a little over 100 miles per hour had helped a bit as well, the highways relatively empty.) The cameras that were stationed around the perimeter of the building had been dealt with by Robin looping the cameras. Any guards that did stroll by wouldn't think anything of it.

Getting to the office was all too easy and after setting up a few silent alarms that would go off in warning for them, the team set off looking around for any items that may be in the space. It reminded Robin of Kamishiro Kaito's office, at least in size being relatively large for no reason.

Taking to the desk he searched it without touching anything as instructed before moving to the shelves laden with small trinkets and books. Nothing.

This was getting them nowhere. It had been at least 20 minutes with them searching the room having called in to Ying just five minutes before. They would need to dig further if they were to find anything in the room…anything at all.

Turning on his com he pointed to his ear once KF and Zatanna had looked at him as if he were going crazy. "You never did say what to do if we found it," Robin said looking around the office space once again.

/Just let me know and I will grab it later…or…do you remember how to check its authenticity?/

"Yeah," Robin said coming up empty yet again on a scan of the room. They were not going to find anything like this. Turning to KF and Zatanna who were triple checking the room he went back to his side shaking his head. This was stupid.

"You think that he'd have it out in the open?"

/The best hiding spots are normally the ones staring you right in the face./

"And how do you expect us to find it if we can't touch anything?" By now Robin couldn't keep the agitation out of his voice and the older male knew this.

/You are actually listening to that? The most important thing is you all staying safe./

The transmission ending Robin glared at nothing in particular as he began to scan over the room this time going through the male's desk drawer. Neither Zatanna nor KF had found anything even after going through everything in the office making sure to place the stuff right back where they had found it. There was still a reason as to why the male had told them not to touch anything. _Oh well._

-X-

_12:57 a.m. _

They had gotten to the building in record time thanks to M'gann's Bioship. The fact that it had a stealth mode to it made their infiltration of the building all the more sweet taking to the roof entrance just like Ying had suggested. The ground had been running with security almost making the archer wonder if the inside had been the same.

It hadn't. They had a lot more camera's than the facility run by the Jade Sun, however. M'gann had easily taken care of the cameras stalling their movement enough for them to slide by without being detected.

The office was just where crudely drawn map had said it would be the dimensions just about right. Splitting up they had each taken a side of the room Rocket and M'gann taking to the left seeing as the whole wall was nothing but books. Remembering not to touch anything they gave up on that after ten minutes of not finding anything.

/I found it,/ Artemis thought out to the others. There was really no need for the use of M'gann's telepathic abilities, but one could never be too careful.

It was a ring. Cut from an onyx stone it had a jade dragon head on the top, small ruby's encircling it. Running down one side where silver rose petals with Chinese characters running on the other side also in silver. Looking the ring over she couldn't find the Nian symbol like Ying had said would be there. Handing off the piece of jewelry to Rocket to see if she could find it Artemis continued to check the room before pressing her com to talk to Ying.

"We may have found one of the items."

/Which one?/ Was it her or did Ying sound a bit odd?

"Are you drunk?" Artemis asked remembering that the male had said he and the other two males were headed to a club. _Information my ass._

/Which. One?/ Ying repeated through the com putting more emphasis on each word.

Rolling her eyes Artemis answered the male. "One of the rings."

/Good job./ That seemed to sober him up a little. /I am having Robin and his team head back to the cave. It seems like they too have found an item. Red Arrow, Aqualad and I are headed back as well. Get there safely./

Turning off her com for the time being Artemis relayed the message to Miss Martian and the others keeping Ying's state to herself. Straightening up the office to the best of how they found it they exited the office the way they came.

Silently moving down the hallway Superboy stopped the team in their tracks raising curious brows. /I hear movement and not from security./

"Where-" Miss Martian was cut off as she was pushed out of the way by Superboy, a dagger hurtling to the spot she had once stood. Surrounded on all sides by people in black ninja attire Artemis shared a look with Rocket. They had got to be kidding them. Two seconds was all they needed to send a non-verbal message to one another before the impending fight broke out, four against 16. It would be more for sure with all the noise in a small hallway once the guards got wind of what was going on.

In all of the hustle and bustle of the fight Rocket had been knocked to the ground the ring case coming lose out from her pocket. Taking advantage one of the ninja's had grabbed the case and darted off leaving the others to do the dirty work.

"Get back here!" Artemis yelled knocking out one of her attackers before giving chase to the figure. Looking back Artemis's eyes burned with fury as she was met with the same white and green mask of the male from a few days ago under the black hat. The mask just pissed her off further as the creepy smile seemed to be mocking her. This time he was _not_ getting away.

Chasing after the male she had followed him up all the way to the roof growling at his seemingly favorite past time. Roof hopping. Kicking open the door she witnessed the male hop off the roof to the next. Following shortly after him she shot an arrow the minute her feet hit concrete coming out of her roll.

Nearly hitting him the male stopped to face her throwing back his hat.

Narrowing her eyes Artemis notched an arrow to her bow. "Payback was going to be a witch."

Releasing her arrow the male easily dodged it releasing a dart at the female who knocked it away with her bow before charging at the male engaging him in a fight using her bow and un-notched arrow as weapons.

Ducking low she had kicked the male's feet from under him before jumping back at a kick that had been thrown on his way down. Back flipping she had drawn an arrow in midair letting it lose the minute her feet had hit the ground growling when he had deflected it with his tanto. She was really starting to dislike that weapon. More so than she loathed the male she was fighting right then.

Engaging once again Artemis managed to knock the box lose from the male grasping it for all of two seconds before dropping it a dagger embedded into the concrete where her hand had been. Moving back she was now farther from the box than the male he keeping her busy with more daggers before picking up the box.

Waving the item at the female and with a final salute the masked male began running again hopping off of the building to the next.

Chasing after the male a bit longer Artemis slowed down before completely stopping a smirk on her face. Taking out a specific arrow she slipped the piece of jewelry off it before slipping it onto her finger, "Dumbass." With an archer hands had to be quicker than the eye.

/I got it back./

"/Good job girl!/

/You shouldn't go running off like that Artemis,/ M'gann thought out to the archer relief flooding her voice. If Artemis had been hurt she wouldn't know what to have done.

Artemis on the other hand was elated. She showed that mask wearing smirking jerk who was boss. Maybe she'd even thank Wally for the extra training they had agreed on. Shooting at him while he was running at different speeds had helped her.

Now they just needed to make it back to the cave.

**End**

**Translations**

[1] -This is troublesome

[2]- Secret


	17. Chapter 17

Alright so here's chapter…something…or other. It seriously took me a minute to do this one…been working on the next one with this so yea. Should be up soon too…Should be.

Thank you Timexgone23 for Beta-ing up till here. Ur a life saver and a pal. ::Sniffs:: I love u man. Lol

Thanks to the readers and reviewers and favorites, and story alerts. This will be the last chapter of the story. Naw. I'm playing. It's like 12 something in the morning right now and work kicked my arse.

**Disclaimer Do not own Young Justice. I do own Ying and any other member not on the team that came from my twisted mind. XD. **

**Warning**- Feel like it's a bit too late to be doing this but there is profanity, drinking….uh…violence…shooting…killing…and will maybe experience some gore not too sure on how heavy. Not the type to write people's entrails hanging out of their body…Just not by cup of tea.

So ya. XD

_Thursday_

**Recognize Red Arrow B07**

**Recognize Aqualad B02**

Robin and the others had been standing in the zeta room for the past thirty minutes waiting on the rest of the crew to arrive. When two out of the three rang out from the female automated voice eyebrows were raised.

"You're missing someone," Artemis voiced as her grey eyes locked onto Red Arrow.

Sending her a glare back Red Arrow continued walking past the group to get inside. "He's outside."

Looking to the slightly soaked male Robin raised a raven brow. "He's outside…It's raining?"

"Yea…He needed to cool off."

Robin and Wally were not buying that for a second. Caching up to the older male just outside the kitchen Robin voiced his deductions "You guys were drinking weren't you?"

Narrowing his eyes Roy took off his shades and stalked off to the room. He didn't have to answer to them. Getting a glass he walked to the fridge pouring himself some juice before turning to the living room.

"So what'd you find?"

_Going to ignore the question? Alright_…

"Hopefully it's the dagger," Zatanna said producing it from a bag at her feet. She had entered the living room not soon after the males had the rest hot on their trail. "We weren't able to find the symbol though."

"Same here," Artemis said taking out the ring. "How long is Ying going to be impaired before he can actually help us?"

**Recognize Rokuro C09**

"We'll find out," Roy said turning to the entrance were a soaked Ying came into view. He looked a little more awake than before which was good. Kaldur and he had left the older male doing forms in the middle of the beach saying it was the best way for him to sober up. After he had continuously sung a song more annoying than that dumb one from _Lambchops_ _Play-a-long_ (yea he watched it when he was younger what are you going to do about it) for about half an hour him just smiling was an improvement.

"What'd I miss?"

"Definitely drinking," Robin said turning his gaze back to Red Arrow.

"Drinking game."

"It," Kaldur spoke up before anyone could start accusing the other, "was necessary to gain the information necessary for the mission. And we gained some very useful information."

"But first," Ying piped up. "What did you all find again?"

Taking the offered items Ying studied them one by one his smile soon pulled into a small frown. "What are your takes on these?" He asked finally placing the ring and dagger on the middle of the table standing over it.

"Other than the colors and symbols it doesn't have any of the characteristics you gave us."

Slowly nodding his head Ying picked up the dagger again turning it around. "Forged, and not a good one either." Finding the ring to be a fake as well Ying allowed the team to show and tell him how they came to those conclusions glad that they were learning and extremely fast. Faster than he had that's for sure.

Bringing up other matters of importance Artemis spoke up in the quieting room. "We saw that same guy who was there during the _I-Ching_ mission," Artemis informed the rest of the team who had not been on her part of the mission. "He was after the ring."

"But neither of you could accurately tell it was forged at the moment…What did he look like?" Ying turned to the grey eyed female, curiosity lining his features.

"He was wearing a mask, white demon with green markings, a straw hat, and black ninja wardrobe. Before he wore a hakama and long coat….Why?"

Running his hand through wet hair Ying scratched the back of his neck as if in thought trying to once again figure out how much information to tell them was enough. "The information that we gathered may piece together with the male you keep running into. I'm sure you all have heard of the Jade Sun and Eastern Snow Leopards, the mission Batman had given you before this."

Picking up specifically on the name of the later Raquel nodded. "Yeah, what of them?"

"They, along with another organization, the Shadow Oni, are after the items as well. The male you spoke of," Ying said turning back to Artemis, "Is from the Shadow."

"How do you know?"

"Living in China for as long as I did you tend to run into people. Now –"

**Team report**

Getting up Robin and the others were motioned to stay in the room by Ying. "I will go brief Batman, you all just relax. Okay?" Throwing them a smile the young man whirled on his heels and headed alone to the briefing room to talk to the Dark Knight.

"Well…That was…nice?" Wally thought out loud before turning back to the items on the table. "I don't think I have to say it."

"This is no coincidence," Kaldur agreed with the younger red head. "I just don't believe it wise for him to have gone alone to the briefing in his…condition."

"His funeral," Roy deadpanned kicking his feet up on the table. "But I want to know why the Light knew about this before we did."

"What do you mean?"

"Cheshire," Artemis answered a scowl on her face. "They're always up to something crocked it's no wonder they did."

"But once again," Roy said gaining control of the conversation once more, "How? Not even the league knew about this."

"Well they always tend to move around with or without the league knowing at first," M'gann spoke up. "But they always find out."

"That they're up to something, but not all the time what," Robin commented.

Nodding her head Artemis agreed with the younger male. "And three other organizations to know about it before hand too? That's putting the league on the side with civilians – sheer ignorance."

"Doesn't seem right," Conner voiced, his eyes narrowed in thought. He wasn't liking where this was going – not one bit.

"Unless they had an inside source."

All eyes were on the African American female who shrugged at their looks. "It would make sense. Who's the one person that knows all about this, yet we still know nothing about?"

Catching onto the females words Conner crossed his arms. "Who could he be working with?"

"At least one of the organizations; I'm pretty sure he hasn't been in the states for very long. Plus he knows way too much."

"But employ our help?" Wally asked skeptically. "He'd have better luck not getting caught robbing the Swiss national bank than infiltrating the League."

Throwing up her hands Raquel shrugged. "I'm only throwing out ideas. But really none of you are a bit suspicious about –"

"Oh my," The room got quiet as Ying made his way back into the open space his expression carefully neutral. "I thought it was just the League. Surely you all don't feel like that….Do you?" Sighing when no one said a word Ying made his way further into the room sitting down on the floor next to Roy.

"There are a few things that we would like to know that you still have yet to clarify." Kaldur said after a moment trying to accurately articulate his words without causing a scene like last time. He had remained quiet throughout the exchange as each teammate had voiced their opinions a few of them sticking out the most. Either way they had to do this delicately. The male was smiling, but so did a cornered animal before it struck and people under the influence of anything were no different.

"You better ask now while I'm still a bit toasted," Ying said not at all peeved by the statement, crossing his legs in front of him. Holding up a finger he leaned back on his other hand. "Seeing as how you all have your own opinion of this everyone gets one, so make it count."

The group all looked at each other giving the male the impression that they were in fact talking through M'gann's link. Sighing he spoke up yet again. "Would it make it better if I just started talking about anything or would you all like a topic to go off of?" The silence getting to him once again Ying just began rambling, and why the heck not?

Sighing he placed his elbow on his knee resting his cheek on his upturned palm before speaking. "Really the suspicion is getting annoying. I'm tried, haven't slept properly in days, have a Bat breathing down my neck at every chance he gets. Constantly watching my step and my back less I want a 245 pound self-righteous kryptonian in a bright ass suit pounding in my face for any misplaced hair any of you may get during a mission. Let alone just because I'm me, thanks, like I don't have self-esteem problems already. Cracked and bruised ribs and before you say it, it's not your fault I should have been more open with you all in the beginning, but can you blame me? I've been shot more times in the past week than…well maybe not…I have grey hairs, my back hurts, I have aches in places I didn't even know I had, my feet hurt, I haven't eaten in three days…I…Oh _Kami_…" Rubbing his face Ying chuckled tiredly to himself missing the shared looks between the team…"I sound like my mother….Is there anything else?"

The room was quiet for a few seconds digesting what the male had bombarded them with. He, for one, did look a bit tired if the now noticeable dark circled under his eyes were anything to go off of. Batman and Superman breathing down his neck was one thing, but who knew the Boy Scout actually threatened the male. _They got hurt on missions all the time_. What stuck out to the mini-bat was the male's omission on how many times he'd been shot. Was it that common an occurrence? He really needed to get a Kevlar vest or learn how to move when someone had a gun pointed at him.

And seriously what the heck was that? Confusion laced many of their features; Roy's mouth slightly open shocked that all of that had just came out of his mouth.

"Are you or have you ever been part of a gang?"

Zatanna gave Raquel a look that spoke volumes. '_Really_?'

"No, I haven't….Is that all?" Ying asked looking around the room at the mixed expressions.

"Yes." Kaldur answered first to come out of his perplexed state.

"Well if that is then I will make my leave before I say something that may further embarrass me," Ying said standing up. "I will be making my exit. See you all dark and late tomorrow. _Zai Jian chibi's_." [1]

To say that they weren't expecting that was an understatement. _Booze has a way of making even the strongest men talk _the old saying went. Apparently it did on tight lipped people like Ying as well. It'd be a long time until he touched that stuff again, that was for sure.

**Recognize Rokuro C09**

Looking around to the others Raquel was the first to break the silence. "How much of that do you believe?"

"The fact that he's not part of a gang or that he had grey hairs?" Roy asked the sarcasm not lost to the other occupants of the room. "He said it while still under the influence of alcohol. I'd say one hundred percent." Roy answered leaning back into the sofa.

Artemis scoffed at the older male crossing her arms, "Speaking from experience?"

"Wouldn't know."

A puff of air, "Yeah, _okay_."

-X-

After the show and a few more hours of talking and joking around to unwind as a team, everyone started to head off into their own separate directions. Artemis back home walking with Kaldur to the zeta room, he was planning on checking up on his King and Queen. Zatanna and the others just headed off to their rooms to get some shut eye leaving Roy, Robin, and Wally in the room by themselves.

Batman had long since left after Robin telling him, not asking, that he'd be staying over Roy's again that night. No school the next day had that privilege. They still had not talked much after the fight, no huge loss for Robin. At least that's what his stubborn thirteen year old mind kept telling him.

"You ready to go?" Roy asked throwing on his jacket. He sounded impatient, but to anyone who knew him he was in fact…impatient.

"Just gotta grab my stuff," Robin said jetting off to him temporary room in the cave. Making it down the hall he stopped short of his room seeing an envelope on the ground just outside his door on the floor. Eyes narrowing he made his way over cautiously looking down at the paper to see a note attached to the front.

"_I feel like this would help a bit more for you to translate the diary. Crimson's idea so thank him. Sorry if it caused any agitation.  
>- O.Y<em>."

_Ying? When did he have the time to – the mission briefing_. _Was that why he wanted to go alone_? Picking up the envelope, Robin read it again to make sure he had, in fact, read it right before opening the manila envelope taking out a packet of papers written out in pinyin, the English written underneath each word. Reading it out Robin could tell, had he even tried translating without this, it would have been a complete disaster. _Light on the aster and heavy on the dis_, he could have easily texted the male thanks, but thought better of it. He'd see him tomorrow.

Going into his room Robin grabbed his bag stuffed the envelope inside and made his way back into the living room where Roy and Wally had been patiently, even for them, waiting.

"Dude, did it really take you that long?"

"Shut it," Robin said with a smirk. "Let's go, I got some pretty good news."

-X-

It had taken them forever and a day, but finally they had translated the diary up to the entry with the picture. Wanting to read that first all three males thought it better to start at the beginning to at least get an actual feel as to what it was about.

_July 7__th__ 1995_

"_Dear Journal…Diary…Whatever you want to call it…place where I write my thoughts, yeah that's more like it. My mother gave me you thinking that it would help me sort out my feelings…I'm sixteen for crying out loud, sort that out. Just getting from a bad break up with the idiot to end all idiots Mister, I'm too sexy for my shirt, Fan Sheng…Yeah! Screw you…and your twenty centimeter thick cut glasses. Pea brained dork. And to top it off I met this idiotic black haired kid with even dumber blue eyes with some stupid American name, Jack, Jacob, Jordan…something like that. "Can I have your number?"...ummmmmm…No. I live in a village for one and two…your just flat out not getting it. What type of female do you take me for? Stupid Justin…_

_My little siblings are driving me up a wall…well Little Ox and his crying all the time, but that's to be expected with one year olds. You know the whole crying, eating, pooping, sleeping throw up on you thing. He is a cute little tyke though. The twins Little Snake and Little Mouse are as crazy as ever. Those two little ladies, as mom calls them, never sit down for longer than two seconds. EVER. NEVER give them candy at any time of the day if you want peace and quiet. Little Horse is the only one who really keeps to himself. And really for a seven year old that's just creepy. Mom blames it on his personality saying that he's just shy. I blame it on that ass of a grandfather of his…Who tells a seven year old that he's technically a love child? He sure had no hesitance in saying so – father almost killed the bastard. _

_I mean, hey I knew for a while, but that didn't mean anything to me. He's my little brother through and through and if anyone tries to hurt any of my siblings there'd be hell to pay. Another reason why he's not allowed over the house again…Hope he liked my size 6 shoe up his ass that day. Thank you Grandfather Shin for the Taekwondo lessons. _

_If you haven't noticed already I call my siblings by animals. Not out of hate, but affection. My mom has always called me her little bear and my father his skunks so it's only fair they get a few more names added to the long list. I've always had a fascination with birds, however. They're so graceful in the air and move with such poise and an air of elegance I love. Practicing with my grandfather all of the time, he hates that I jump all over the place: "Taekwondo is meant for the feet to fly only to kick…not to jump around like monkey"._

_Let's see. What else is there to say about myself and family that captures the essence of me? I'm sixteen going on seventeen years old in a few weeks reminding me, Grandfather Shin had something he wanted to tell me, but refused to do so until said seventeenth birthday…Then why bring it up? But that is to be expected with the great and all powerful sage that is my grandfather. Okay so he's not a sage but you get the drift. He's pretty wise. _

_Oh if he only knew. _

_Well diary/journal/mind dump that is all for right now. Till next time. _

_O. MeiLi_

Okay. So it was, in fact, a journal that much was clear – a female's journal none the less. It hadn't been too painful to read seeing as how most diaries tended to gush on and on about endless crushes. She seemed to have a bit of a fire to her along with a keen love for her family. The fact that she was sixteen while writing this was probably the reason for the maturity she had although if the female population of the team read this they would beg to differ. It wasn't age that made her mature, but the fact that she was female. _Point blank and simple_. Yeah…okay….

Roy looked as if he wanted to plug his ears up with cotton if he heard another word from the diary again, "This is inhumane."

"It's part of the mission."

"We can just throw this right back at Ying and –"Roy stopped talking catching the glare Dick was shooting him. "You really think this can help you find anything on your parents….Alright. Forget I said anything."

Flipping to the next page Dick continued to read out loud:

_July 13__th__ 1995_

_Dear book that I dump my heart and soul into blah, blah, blah. I ran into two jerks today. Tweedle dumb and the Blue eyed idiot – turns out his name is John…Still a boring American name but hey, boring name to go with that boring face of his. Really, Jackass asked for my number again…I thought no meant _no_ universally. I tried my luck feigning ignorance to him pretending that I didn't speak English…I am part European on my mothers side…Till PiaoLu came up to me screaming about her boyfriend…cat was outta the bag then. Seriously. Then tweedle dumb comes up to me like I really wanted to talk to him either…So I took PiaoLu and we booked it outta there._

_Little Horse's grandfather came by again today…Dad was not pleased to say the least. What would he expect, however, messing with a woman whose father is a crime boss? Should have just kept it in his pants and left the no-good news woman alone, patched things up with mom and called it a day. Once again don't take this the wrong way mind dump, Little Horse is an amazing kid. I just don't want to see him steered down the wrong path by _old evil eyes_. Grandfather Shin already sees it. He took Little Horse under his wing early teaching him martial arts too. More forms and styles than me, but hey I'm not complaining. The kid needs _something_ to focus on. _

_The terror twins are just that…terrors…Found them in my room again today. Swear I'm going to beat them within an inch of their lives next time. Once again I am not serious. Those two little girls are the best. Can already see they'll be the ones going to college. I'm smart sure, but school…Just not for me. Maybe I'll join a world Taekwondo team…Grandfather says I'm pretty good at it. Well that's all I got for today mind._

_O. MeiLi_

Dick had to force himself to continue reading after the mention of the male's name, John. That had been his father's name. Not the one to have translated that page he looked to Roy who had. Only knowing about a weeks time he wouldn't have made the possible connection so quick. Could this have been his mother's?

The fact that this female had four siblings brought him back to the picture of his mother with the four nameless, well now still nameless, children. Still his mother had never mentioned siblings or any of this.

It hadn't made much sense if this was his mother or not, at least to him. He didn't want to get his hopes up just yet. Duel looks from Roy and Wally were not helping the younger male in the least.

Ignoring the two Dick continued to read:

_July 22__nd__ 1995_

_Happy birthday to me happy birthday to me happy birthday to me happy birthday to me_

_So I am officially seventeen! Yes! Oh the joys of the world. One more year closer to death, my mother had a fit when she heard me say that, but Grandfather Shin thought it was hilarious he couldn't stop laughing. Grandpa FeiLong and Grandmother TaiLi where here today as well. I haven't seen them in a long time since they moved to FuZhou. Too far for us to visit on the regular father says…He just doesn't like going to visit mother's parents. They never did approve of him…and after his stunt it only got worse. It's a shame how much dirty laundry I know about my family. I could write a novel and get best seller for this. You can't make it up._

_Speaking of made up, you would not believe the nonsense Grandfather Shin spilled to me today. I think he's drunk way too much sake at dinner tonight. We sat down in the backward underneath the huge oak tree, had my first sip of sake ever. Coolest grandfather ever! Anyway he told me this whole thing about the Nian monster…You know the one that myth says comes down every year destroying villages? It wasn't a myth after all. That these warriors and monk went to destroy it only to seal it within these ancient items that our family, at least on his side, watched over for years. The original family that watched over these items was killed and apparently ours where the servants to that family. We were spared and let go by whoever took off with the pieces the first time they had been stolen. It's a bit too farfetched to be made up, but like I said he had a lot to drink. _

_I'll ask him more about it in the morning. Till then…_

The look Wally was giving the younger male was not making him feel any better that it had before quite the opposite as he fingered that page and the next one. So maybe this all was starting to make sense.

He remembered his mother's birthday being on the 22nd of July. This MeiLi woman had mentioned meeting a John from America more than once. It had yet to explain, if this was in fact her, why she had come into possession of the items, the box, necklace, and the book Ying had walked off with, yet anyways.

_July 23__rd__ 1995_

_Alright so either my grandfather is crazy or my family is crazy. Grandfather handed me a book yesterday and let me tell you it is not for the faint of heart. This thing was no joke. No wonder so many people wanted to get their hands on it. Our family never had a name for the assassins who killed the family just that they wore white painted masks almost like the demons you see in the theatre productions. Whoever they were they did a lot of damage. Grandfather said it was good that the book was still within the house and not taken away like the items or we wouldn't have anything to go off of. That and their generosity at not killing my ancestors. _

_Back to the big picture; it's my family's job now to go out and find these items and bring them back to their resting place. Grandfather hasn't said where that is, but I'm sure the book would know. I can say I haven't picked it up since that first night. I had the worst possible nightmare in the world like I was actually there watching this thing destroy so much. The fact that I could do nothing, but watch just made it so much more terrifying. I haven't told Grandfather any of this, so congratulations. You're the first one to know. _

_Still this is very strange and very creepy. I really don't think I'm going to be cut out for this work. Speaking of which, that kid John won't let up. Nice subject changer. Non stop chatter today when we ran into each other at the park, I swear I'm going to stop going over there. Apparently he's in town with that American circus Haley's whatever. Gave me a ticket for admissions for ten. Not bad considering all of the siblings. Doesn't mean I'd go and I told him that._

_MeiLi_

_Haley Circus_…That's what it took for the last bit of doubt to leave the black haired male. Haley Circus and black haired, blue eyed male named John. Dick at least remembered his father saying that he had been in for a lot longer than his mother. At least that much rang true. So she was annoyed with him when they first met. The show must have been their turning point or he would not be here right now.

Dick didn't know how to take this.

One part of him was glad to have found something on his mother, anything at all. And yet the other part of him was angry…probably more angry than he was at Bruce for keeping all of this from him. Did he know? If he did then Dick was sure to get it out of him eventually.

Why had his mother changed her name? Looking at it MeiLi wasn't a far change from Mary, Americanized probably. Why had she left China? Honestly his mother didn't even look at all Asian, probably due to her mixed blood.

"You alright?"

Snapping out of his internal thoughts Dick turned to the older red head, of whom had a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah, I mean…This is just a lot you know?"

"If you want to wait till a bit later to read the rest –"

"No," Dick said shaking his head. If anything he needed to know. He needed to confirm the small suspicions in the back of his mind that still held him back from believing that this was his mother's. He didn't want to give up the image he held of her or his father from this. There were too many unanswered questions and he felt like the diary only held but so few.

She had even mentioned gaining the book that Ying had conveniently walked off with and had yet to tell them what was in it let alone when if ever, they'd get it back. From what MeiLi…From what his _mother_ had written in her diary it seemed that whatever it was it could and would give the reader the willies. So much so that they would lose sleep.

But his mother was a guardian? Why had she left? Why did she even have an item, but not say anything? Did his father even know? This was turning into a bigger headache. It was like for every question he had answered more would pop up.

Rereading the first paragraph something else had registered to the younger male. White painted mask of a demon…._Shadow Oni_? "Didn't you say that the Shadow Oni were after the items."

"_Yeah_…why?"

"White painted demon masks," Dick pointed at the line. "Artemis said that the male she kept going up against had a white mask with markings. What if this organization was the same one that took out the original guardians all those years ago?"

"It would make sense theory wise, although Cheshire wears a demon mask also. It's more of a cat, but either way…"

"She did show up that night with the book," Roy brought up scowling. "She could, but I doubt the light would be working with an organization that doesn't have the same intentions. Or at least clear ones. We haven't even heard of them 'till Kaldur, Ying, and I went to the bar. At least we hadn't. Ying seemed pretty familiar."

"With all of the organizations," Dick's eyes narrowed.

Wally's voice cut through Dick's thoughts. "Do you think Ying would know anything about her or her family?"

"It's a possibility," Dick said going through the pages they had just read. "I mean thinking about it he knows a lot about what's going on, did he ever answer us on how he found out about the items? Like a real answer?"

Shaking his head Wally ran his hands over his face in exasperation. "We should have asked him while he was still toasted."

"I think after his little burst we were _all _distracted."

Narrowing his eyes further, Dick's suspicions from earlier were confirmed. "He did that on purpose."

"You think?"

Shooting a glare at Roy the blue eyed male had been once again cut off by Wally. "He's pretty good at deflecting."

"Not lying though."

"The other possibility though," Wally said looking over the notes again. "He may be, and don't shoot me, but he may be part of the family; maybe not one of her brothers, but a cousin or distant relative or something."

"You would think that would have been something he'd brought up giving Dick the book back."

"Or he was gauging our reactions, specifically Dick's. Like I said, it's just a possibility. I mean they've been stolen enough times. Maybe his family is just like yours had been. It's possible they all have had helpers, just in case something like what happened to the original family happened again."

Dick wouldn't knock that possibility out. After reading this he knew nothing of his mother. Nothing of his father for that matter. At least with this he could start to.

_July 24__th__ 1995_

_So I'm going to that dumb show to see that stupid blue eyed dork who can't take no for an answer. Thank you Little Horse. He had seen the ticket to the show and from then on would not stop bugging me. He may not have mastered the puppy eyes of doom, but he had a very persuasive way of talking to people…He could cut it as a lawyer if he wanted to, or a cars salesman. So now me Little Horse, the terror twins, mother, father and of course, what's the party without, Little Ox? Are all headed to the circus later. I'll fill you in on all of the juice details…Hope the blue eyes dork falls flat on his face whatever his act is. _

_July 24__th__ 1995_

_Wow okay um…that was by far the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life. Wow. The guy flies like a freaking bird it's _unbelievable_. I mean, I've seen people in the opera do stunts with wires, but this guy…That was _amazing_ the way he just somersaulted in mid air _without_ so much as a wire attached to him to keep him in the air. I hadn't stayed long enough to talk to him after the show, but I am definitely going to the park tomorrow to find and talk to him. So cool!_

_Maybe he's not so dumb after all…maybe…_

_MeiLi_

Roy was once again wearing that '_Please shoot me if this talk continues_' face. Rolling his eyes Dick delved back into reading hoping to find something else concrete in her words.

_August 15__th__ 1995_

_Talked to grandfather again._

_There's a map of the resting place of the Nian. Like its actual body. Like it's physical form that destroyed all of those villages. I haven't seen it as of yet thanks to grandfather…but I figure that it would have to be somewhere up in the mountains. There really was no other place for it to be besides the water, but then again they wouldn't need to protect it that heavily if it was. The guardian lions, it seems, had been crafted as a marking to represent the guardians of the Nian pieces. Originally. Now it was a symbol of protection. Oh how the mighty symbols always fell. _

_On top of all of that he's upped my training to once a day directly after school lessons until dinner. I don't mind it so much, but do you think he'd at least give me a break? Nope, _because Master Sage Grandfather Shin knows all!_ Really there is no reason for all of that. But hey what would I know? I asked him finally why father never talked about this with me. Apparently because of the whole "Starting a family," it would be hard for him to do any of what is needed. Ummmmmmmmmmm…okay yeah that makes no sense. None. If it was a family affair before than maybe it should be a family affair now. Just saying. _

_And that still didn't make any sense of why he never brought it up. He even told me not to tell father. I have a sinking suspicion of why…_

_On a side note I did run into John again. I told him, in not so much detail, that his show was okay. Not my technical words exactly, but hey. I'm not trying to give him any ideas. Men can be so simple like that. The minute you smile at them and they think they're the hottest thing placed on the face of the earth. _Please_. Any who, he told me he saw me at the show then proceeded to ask me if I wanted to head back to the tent sometime and learn a few tricks. _

_So I punched him…Until I learned he meant parts of his act. _Oops_. In apology I told him I wouldn't mind hanging out during his stay, but he'd have to come to the dojo instead. That way if he tries anything I can _legally_ kill him. Once again left that little bit about me killing him out. And he's not so bad either. Pretty decent smile, not at all like Tweedle dumb. He's still a dork though. _

_MeiLi _

"Your mother is a riot," Roy said with a slight chuckle.

"Thanks," Dick said flipping back and forth between that page and the next before going back. There was something in that part that had caught his eye. There was a map, and the Nian had a physical body? Ying hadn't mentioned any of this so once again he either didn't know or conveniently left that part out…_Again_.

On top of that Mei, his mother, hadn't told her father any of what was going on. Why wouldn't her grandfather want him to know?

And she had literally punched Jo-, his father in the face. Not at all like the gentle woman he had grown to love. Kind of reminded him of a certain blonde haired female on their team and from the look on Wally's face it seemed like he was thinking the same thing.

Going through the last part of translated pages Dick was glad to see they had finally made it to the necklace.

_August 21__st__ 1995_

_He gave me a necklace today. I will try to explain it, but for the most part I drew a picture of it to help. It has two guardian lions on it with a dragon at the center holding a sake bottle with a fan at its tail. The lions are holding a sword crossed at the back of the dragon. Grandfather explained that the lions represent the job of the guardians, to protect the people as well as the items and the Nian, hence the swords in their mouths. The dragon representing the people of our country also represents the guardian themselves in this case. The sake bottle: truth and wisdom. The fan: a yielding and unyielding mind. _

_It's a symbol all guardians must have somewhere on their persons. Grandfather Shins said that he had gotten a tattoo of it on his shoulder years before he got the necklace made. He said that father had gotten one too in the same spot as his, but I could choose on getting one or wearing the necklace. Think I'll stick with the necklace. _

_So more of Grandfather Shins words of wise sagely wisdom. Maybe that's why he drinks so much. He always tends to carry around a fan come to think of it, although he never uses it. _

_Next week he told me he'd tell me what the items look like. Apparently out of all eight that were in our possession, seven of them have been lost throughout the years leaving just one in our care until today. It's kind of scary and upsetting to see how far people will go to destroy one another. _

_I managed to pick up the book again yesterday and read it. Once again nightmare of the century. It got no better. At. All. Who the heck took the time to write down every gruesome detail about what that creature did? Like one of those people who go around taking pictures during a war or something grisly like that. _

"Wow." Wally said the first thing to come to mind, "Mind blown dude."

"You can say that again…Don't you dare." Roy said narrowing his eyes dangerously at the younger redhead who held up his hands in a surrender position. Both had turned to Dick who remained the most silent of them all.

"Dick?" When the male in question had yet to say anything, instead of taking to throwing something which they had been so inclined to do the past few days, Roy sighed before getting up from his comfy position on the couch in favor to sit down on the hard ground with his brothers placing an arm around the youngest.

"What do you want to do?" Wally asked nudging the male gently in the arm. There was little point in asking him how he was doing. The look on his face said it all. That and really how would anyone feel realizing that their parents weren't who they said they were? Doesn't mean they weren't still good people just…well…

"We'll translate the rest of the diary…Then we talk to him." Dick's words were final as he stared down at the rest of the diary. What other secrets could this one book hold?

End

So there you have it folks. I know what ur thinking and no…ur wrong. Lol.

**Translation**

[1]ZaiJian chibi's- ZaiJian is mandarin for Bye. Chibi's is like calling someone a midget or short.

And just to clarify for those who may not know Oni is demon or devil in Japanese. Shadow Oni/demon.

**Next on Effects of Black and White…maybe**

Stretching Wally cracked a green eye open feeling something slightly off with the picture. Only counting one other lump in the bed he checked the alarm clock on the opposite side of the room to see that it was only 7:34a.m. It was no surprise that Roy would still be asleep the male never up before twelve as was his rule, but with the night that they had he was half expecting the baby bat to be asleep as well. Nope.

Swinging his feet off of the bed careful to stay at normal speed, less he wanted to knock everything over thus waking the beast and not living to tell the tale he padded over to the door creaking it open before slipping out. Walking down the short hallway to the living room when he came up empty there as well he continued to head to the kitchen. _Bingo._

Slumped over the kitchen table was none other than their resident raven fast asleep with the diary open in front of him, pen in hand and papers under his head. Obviously at some point during the night he had snuck off to continue reading the diary. _No surprise there_. Shaking his head at his little brothers antics Wally made his way further into the kitchen knowing by now that he was beyond knocked out. "Long night?"

Just to triple check Wally poked his miniature best friend in the cheek watching as he only continued to snore softly before maneuvering him carefully onto his back. With cargo in tow the redhead made his way back to Roy's room once again creaking the door open slowly, slipped back through carefully depositing his cargo after moving the blankets.

**Zai2Jian4!Later days**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer**…Other than original character(s) I do not own Young Justice. Would love to…but life and loans is hindering me from committing such a joyous act.

**A:N-** **WARNING**/**View Discretion** is advised- Slight cursing and innuendoes within the chapter. If you don't get the references then your mind is a lot cleaner than mine is. Giggidy. XD

Thank you **TimeXgone23**…I swear go right now(after reading this of course…so not right now right now but later right now) and read **A Dangerous Enterprise** -Sly Cooper story seeing as Pirates is on hold...-_-….and ye this dragon face is for you….XD.

Thank you for reading and enjoy!

Quote of the day-**I can trust my friends. These people force me to examine myself, encourage me to grow.  
>-Cher<strong>

**Friday**

-X-

It was that feeling you get when you first wake up from the blackness of dreamless sleep. That was the first thing that had the Asian male on edge as he woke not from one of those 'dreams,' but something else. A presence. In his apartment…that was definitely not supposed to be there. Reaching slowly underneath his pillow Ying clasped the handle of the blade kept there for safe keeping in a lose grip before taking a slow and deep breath feigning sleep before quickly rolling over throwing the knife. Imbedding itself in the wood of one of the pillars in his studio Ying rolled his eyes once he figured who the intruder was.

"The hell Lee?" His voice laced with sleep he rubbed his eyes trying to get himself to wake up.

"Your aim is getting sloppy," the male said extracting the knife where it protruded just centimeters from his head.

The male was in fact an older gentleman well into his fifties, as seen with the prominent laugh lines around his mouth and eyes, and grey hair peppered with brown strands. He wore a simple navy blue three piece suit with a white undershirt, navy blue fedora in his right hand. Having taken off his shoes before entering the apartment he was clad in black grey toed socks, his black overcoat resting on the desk chair.

About to ask the older male how he got into his apartment he stopped once he remembered giving Lee a key to the place just in case he happened to get mortally wounded during a mission or something 'catastrophic' like that. Come to think of it he hadn't been on a mission…he hadn't even done any heavy enough drinking the night before to warrant a house visit…so why was he in his apartment?

"Why are you in my apartment?" Ying voiced out loud staring down the older male.

"Good morning to you too," Lee said scrutinizing the younger male before questioning him just as smoothly. "Why aren't you at work?"

Eyes widening Ying whipped around to face the clock his eyes widening further for a different reason as he stretched his still tight and very sore back muscles and ribs too fast. Crying out he collapsed back down onto the bed holding tightly to his side. He was not feeling this crappy yesterday the hell was he doing? Breathing deeply it took him a few minutes before the pain mostly subsided allowing him to sit back up slowly.

"That was dirty," Ying gritted out glaring at Lee who stared blandly back.

"What is dirty, is **you** not telling me what is going on with you."

"To be fair," Ying said absently giving up the glare while pressing his ribs to see any more damage, "I have not told anyone much." Glancing at his bare arms to see bruises that had definitely not been there before Ying finally remembered he had went information hunting before heading back to his apartment earlier that morning. All he got out of it was a fist fight with five thugs. Nothing big.

Finding his ribs to be a bit sorer than they were yesterday that wasn't going to stop the male from getting up to start his work. He managed to actually get the time from the clock, _no thanks to Lee_. 7:03 a.m. He was supposed to be at work at 9:15 so really he wasn't late. Even better his boss was in his apartment so there was no being late to get the older male to the office.

Moving the blankets from his body he moved to stand stopping when Lee barked at him from across the room. "What the hell are you doing?"

Stopping for a short moment Ying blinked at him. "You want to borrow my glasses or should I have Sherry make you an appointment with the optometrist sometime within the week?"

"You are going to be seeing a proctologist if you do not stay in that bed."

Chuckling at the threat Ying slowly swung his feet onto the ground. "And for what exactly?"

"Extracting my size 13 shoe from your ass."

Shaking his head Ying stopped once again feeling slightly lightheaded and dizzy from the action. Once the feeling dissipated Ying stood to full height deciding to ignore the signs his body was telling him as well as the pointed look from his boss. _Standing and still no shoe. My lucky day_. "You would have to hobble over to the door, grab one, and hobble back over here. But you are more than welcome to try."

"You would probably enjoy it."

"More than you would know."

"Which shoe would you prefer, the left or the right?"

"Left," Ying said turning to make the bed quickly (tossing the blankets over the mattress, the pillows to one side.) "I am taking you to work."

Sighing Lee was seconds from snapping the young males neck in half. Seriously he listened about as much as a two year old child. "Get back in that bed and lay down."

Pausing Ying crossed his arms over his chest tilting his head at his boss. "So why did you come over if not for me to take you?"

"To make sure you didn't die due to your idiocy and mediocre ability to take care of yourself."

"Well thank you mom." Walking over to his dresser Ying opened the second drawer taking out some clothes before walking over to the bathroom. "Be out in ten." Smirking at the glowering look he received from his boss Ying closed the door the sound of water running soon after.

"Hard headed idiotic buffoon," Lee mumbled before making his way to the kitchen area to see what he could force the male to eat. Going from one cabinet to the other he didn't even want to see the fridge as there was nothing but condiments and flour. And he was half expecting to see a roach or something scurry away. _Nope_. Opening the fridge it seemed a bit better, milk oh….expired. Checking the whole appliance for something that wasn't either in need of being cooked or festering Lee finally found an apple in the vegetable crisper. "This will do."

The water turned off minutes later Ying walking out in a pair of black slacks running a towel through his hair. He had to drop the cloth quick to catch the fruit before it hit his face shooting Lee a questioning gaze. "You are not passing out while driving with me in that metal flivver of a car. Eat that and finish getting dressed."

Rolling his eyes Ying bit into the fruit continuing his journey back to his bed. "How did you get here again?" The question was said with such sweetness that Lee knew nothing good was going to come out of the male's mouth. Sitting he reached into the drawer next to his bed pulling out a roll of gauze. Looking up he was greeted with Lee standing over him inspecting his wounds greying eyebrows furrowed.

"I took a taxi."

Keeping his gaze on the male Ying grinned. "Well then you can hail one the rest of the twelve blocks to work."

Not the least perturbed by the younger males threat Lee continued to bash his car. "That clunker needs to get trashed."

"Peppa," Ying corrected completely offended that Lee had insulted his car, let alone to his face "is a classic 1974 Ford Elite. It would behoove you to remember that old man or next time you can walk."

"Broadening your vocabulary? Nice. Why did you even name_ it_ Peppa?"

"Because **she**," Ying said the glare returning to his face, "is misshapen but has a lot of kick to her."

Raising a grey brow Lee's face broke into a grin. "You do know the correct term is pepper."

"Namaikina yatsu," [1] Ying mumbled biting into the apple.

[1][Smart ass.]

Sitting down next to the male Lee took up his arm. "That heap is older than you are."

"But not nearly as old as you."

"And you paid how much for it?"

"She….cost 300. Got her when I first came here."

"You got robbed." About to make a retort Ying was cut off when the older male continued. "Looks better," Lee said examining Ying's arms switching the subject his attention clearly focused elsewhere before checking out his side. "This however."

"Nothing much." Ying answered the unsaid question biting into the apple again.

"Oh yes," Lee said his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Because falling off a building, drinking, and getting into a fist fight," Lee said motioning to the new bruise slightly covering the older one on his chin and arm. "You might as well have just joined a fight club. Chew," Lee cut the male off again knowing he was about to say something else to piss him off.

"You know," Ying started after complying to the older man's wishes. "I think I figured out where Fiore gets her overbearing tendencies."

"Finish that," he pointed to the apple, "wrap those," he pointed to Ying's torso, "then finished getting dressed."

Ignoring the male this time Ying continued to ask him questions still curious as to why the male was in his apartment. He'd only been recently used to one unannounced visitor now he had to deal with two. At least this one knew his pet peeve of no shoes on his floor regardless of it being scratched and worn hardwood. "How did you find out?"

Snatching the roll from the younger male Lee forced him to raise his arms before treating Ying's ribs being as non-gentle as possible without killing the male to get a point across. '_Do something stupid like this again and I will kick your ass myself._' "One I am old, not stupid and two, Black Canary told me, among other things. You need to take better care of yourself because this," Lee said after helping the male with wrapping his ribs, "Is beyond foolish. Even for you." Handing him the roll to finish up with his arms Lee ignored the cross look Ying was sending him.

Going to ignore the fact that his partner was now in conversing ground with the League Ying shrugged his shoulders. "It had to be done."

"At what cost?"

Biting the end of the roll instead of using the scissors right next to him, purposely getting on the older males nerves, Ying tucked the edge into the piece underneath it before switching arms. "If you remember me telling you old man, this is kind of important or did you not get the memo?"

"If you remember young man, I specifically said for you to take care of yourself. Obviously you forgot that memo," the older male bit out.

"I." Ying's mouth snapped shut at the new look Lee was shooting him. That one clearly said for him not to speak another word. Scowling instead Ying finished wrapping up his right arm before putting the roll away figuring he'd let the cut on his neck breathe.

Stuffing the rest of the apple, core and all into his mouth Ying made his way back to the bathroom to finish getting dressed leaving Lee once again to wonder around his studio. On top of the males desk along with a rather old book and another of poetry sat two guns in plain view, a pistol and revolver. Sighing Lee picked up the revolver checking the chamber before clicking it back into place, doing the same for the pistol.

"Want to tell me about the Smiths you have on your desk?"

"As legal as they are I cannot very well conceal a shotgun in my clothes now can I?"

Shaking his head Lee placed the revolver back down on top of the dresser. "How did you even get a permit?"

Stepping out of the bathroom once again Ying had on a white button up, black vest and blazer, his hair tied back. "When you know a few people, do a few favors, clean a few pipes."

"You what?"

Not knowing what the older male was thinking it took Ying a few seconds to get the insinuation. "Oh…Get your mind out of the gutter old man. The cathedral six blocks north of here needed their organ cleaned...And I would not be having that conversation with you."

"Thank God…What does that have to do with your permit?"

"Everything." Not going to continue asking Lee left it at that.

Walking over to his desk Ying proceeded to place both guns in his waistband before grabbing his keys and Lee's jacket from the back of the chair. "Let's go get you a coffee old man, no sense in you falling asleep mid-edit like Wednesday."

"It was only because you were boring me with your incessant chatter."

"I do not…" Ying's eyes narrowed as the older male chuckled walking to the door to put on his shoes. Shaking his head he gave Lee his jacket and opened the door for him waiting for the older male to leave first before closing it and locking up.

One of these days he was going to kick that old man's ass.

-X-

Rolling over Wally groaned as he placed a hand to his face blocking out the light that permeated through the crack in the curtains. Reaching for his alarm clock to see what the time was, he scrunched his already closed eyes as all he felt where more pillows and covers. That's when he remembered he wasn't at his Aunt and Uncles but at Roy's.

After sleeping on the males sofas the last time they had stayed over there was no way they were doing that again so while the older male had fallen asleep, Dick and he had commandeered the other half of the bed. What did one person need with a king sized memory foam bed anyway? Not like he was getting lucky anytime soon. No sooner had he told the male that was he eating a sofa cushion. It was worth it to hear Dick laughing, however, not that cackle he had when he had pranked someone or was seconds from beating a perp. No. His real, you just got owned laugh.

Stretching Wally cracked a green eye open feeling something slightly off with the picture. Only counting one other lump in the bed he checked the alarm clock on the opposite side of the room to see that it was only 7:34a.m. It was no surprise that Roy would still be asleep the male never up before twelve as was his rule, but with the night that they had he was half expecting the baby bat to be asleep as well. Nope.

Swinging his feet off of the bed careful to stay at normal speed, less he wanted to knock everything over thus waking the beast and not living to tell the tale he padded over to the door creaking it open before slipping out. Walking down the short hallway to the living room when he came up empty there as well he continued to head to the kitchen. _Bingo._

Slumped over the kitchen table was none other than their resident raven fast asleep with the diary open in front of him, pen in hand and papers under his head. Obviously at some point during the night he had snuck off to continue reading the diary. _No surprise there_. Shaking his head at his little brothers antics Wally made his way further into the kitchen knowing by now that he was beyond knocked out. "Long night?"

Just to triple check Wally poked his miniature best friend in the cheek watching as he only continued to snore softly before maneuvering him carefully onto his back. With cargo in tow the redhead made his way back to Roy's room once again creaking the door open slowly, slipped back through carefully depositing his cargo after moving the blankets. Placing them over his friend Wally chuckled before coming up with a brilliant idea.

Finding the jeans he had been wearing the night before he went into the back pocket whipping out his phone before taking a quick picture of the two. He had already gotten his revenge on the older redhead but the baby bat was still owed. This would be a start.

"Blackmail." Leaving the room the speedster had a million things running through his mind all of which he was feeling too whelmed…overwhelmed…whatever…to deal with. Between what his best friends were going through, the missions, and school work he barely had enough time to sort through his own B.S. Not that he minded helping them out, no.

It was getting closer and closer to his sixteenth birthday, just a few weeks now but that wasn't what was on his mind…much. It wasn't every day you hit the 'big one-six,' as his Uncle Barry had reminded him over and over and over again. His father had contacted him just a few weeks ago telling him that he'd like to hang out that day, just the two of them, talk and hopefully get some much needed bonding time done.

Not having the uh…best relationship with the male at the moment he wouldn't lie and say that he wasn't too inclined to see him. He hadn't said as much over the phone telling the older male that he would get back to him in a few days and see. A few days had turned into over a month and still he hadn't given him an answer. But seriously what was he supposed to say? Yea sure let's hang out despite all the crap you put mom and me through? You couldn't always hold the past against someone and people did genuinely change…sometimes…but the old saying still stood. _There isn't much changing in people's drawers._

He hadn't at all talked to Uncle Barry about it let alone Dick and Roy knowing exactly how his two friends would act. Less so on how his Uncle would handle it. It had taken a lot of talking down from Bruce, Oliver, and Hal for the older speedster to not immediately maim the older West although each had very much wanted to join the Speedster in doing so.

That left him for the past few months living with his aunt and uncle, his father in rehab and his mother working a part time job and not near the volatile male.

Sighing Wally decided it was time to direct his thoughts elsewhere as he had in the meantime gotten out the ingredients for breakfast. On the menu, pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon. Not extremely hungry…yet…he could deal with having just three helpings making sure that there was enough for the other two of course. Hopefully the smell would wake them up and if not ice water was always a nice shock to the system.

At around 8:30, surprisingly enough it wasn't the bat who had awoken first but the older redhead dragging himself into the kitchen. Taking in one look of the male standing in front of the stove with flour on his right cheek Roy huffed, the most of a laugh anyone would be getting from him. _Dumbass._

"You'd make a fine wife someday," Roy mumbled the younger redhead not missing the smirk.

Pouring more batter onto the skillet Wally smirked himself. "I'm actually on the market as it were. You know any fine strapping young lads?" For added effect Wally placed his hands on his hip batting his eyelashes at the older male.

"I swear you need help."

Chuckling Wally turned back to the stove flipping the pancakes over before going over to the eggs cracking the whole carton full into a huge bowl. Adding shredded cheese to the bowl next he mixed it well before pouring that into the heated skillet next to the pancakes letting them sit for a minute, whipping them occasionally.

"So," Roy asked breaking the comfortable silence that had befallen the two males as one cooked, the other watching. "Want to tell me why you and Pippin decided it a good idea to commandeer my bed last night?"

"Well my good man," Wally said pouring more batter into the skillet before whisking away at the eggs. "As lovely as your sofas are there is no way we were spending another night on them especially if a certain someone happens to have a memory foam bed."

Not even going to argue with the male on that one he let it slide just knowing that he'd be getting them back eventually the next time he stayed over at the cave. "Pippins still sleeping?"

"Actually, just fell asleep."

Wally didn't have to elaborate more on the why Roy taking one sweep of the kitchen table to know. "He's driving himself crazy."

"Not yet he's not although Dick's getting pretty close." Finishing with the pancakes Wally added the last few to the mountain before focusing his attention on the eggs deciding to do the bacon for last. It would take the least amount of time. _Nuking it._

"I don't blame him."

"Neither do I. Do you know him and Bruce haven't talked since the argument?"

"And ?"

"_And_ it's not good. For either of them."

"Oliver and I haven't talked for weeks and you don't see me moping about it. He has us."

"I understand but that's you and Ollie. You both have this understanding like that but Dick's thirteen. He acts mature for his age and for the most part he is but he's still a kid. He's going to need his mentor through this just as much as he needs us and the team, whether they know what's going on or not."

Cracking his neck Roy placed his elbow on the table leaning his chin against his open palm. "I really hate it when you're right."

"Which happens more often than you."

"Just finish with my breakfast."

"Yes dear."

"Shut up."

"Do you two always have to be so loud in the morning?"

"Well," Wally said turning of the stove at his sleepy eyes friend, a look in his eyes that Roy did not like one bit, "We normally wait till you leave-"

"You have one more time," Roy cut off pointing the end of a butter knife at the younger male.

"That's not what you said last night."

"I will not cry at your funeral." Dick said as Roy looked five seconds from pitching the knife at the younger redhead.

"Dude, that's just mean."

Rushing the food over to the table Wally waited for Dick to sit down before asking the question that both red heads had been wondering since waking up. "When did you get up?"

Still rubbing his eyes it took Dick a bit longer to answer than normal. "Three. Couldn't sleep."

Normally the universal question after that would have been why. Both males knew the answer to that, no sense asking and no sense in having the younger male answer. "Why didn't you wake one of us?"

Eyes now open and wearing a deadpan expression Dick answered the male. "You sleep like the dead and if he's woken before twelve I'd be dead. Really you're like a gremlin," Dick added looking to the other blue eyed male who had resorted to pointing the knife at him instead.

"That is the last time I let you two trolls sleep over."

"You say that."

"But it's happening."

Opting to change the topic for the moment and have some talk away from the pending mission and the slightly depressing atmosphere brought on by the book the three males settled down to brainstorm ideas for the day before heading off to the mountain. After a few ideas flittered through, most of them shot down, they came up with either laser tag, paintball, or three way basketball.

Basketball won out. There was no way any of them were going to walk away after either of the first two options all knowing they would destroy the other and anyone else in their way. How Dick had managed to almost bring a grown man to tears playing laser tag was beyond the two red heads even to this day. Wally was left shaking his head at the incident trying his hardest not to laugh while Roy had not cared laughing outright at the males plight.

"So what did you find?" Roy asked motioning to the stack of papers still misconstrued on the table. If there was ever a time to talk about it that would be now. That way they had the rest of the day to relax.

Shuffling through the papers Dick found the one that he wanted to read skipping over a few for the sake of Roy not returning his food .

"Listen to this."

_August 30__th__ 1995_

_Grandfather Shin showed me a picture of the items today. They're pretty neat although with the age of the photo it was hard to tell what color they are. Eight all together there were two rings, a locket, dagger, sword, pocket watch, bracelet, and a gun. _

_The barrel of the gun was as black as onyx. The sight had rose petals engraved in silver running up to the handle which was told to her to be a deep red. Jade dragons had been placed on the edge, a head on its butt. __The pocket watch was toned similar to the gun, black with silver rose petals running along the edges in a circle. The back of the watch was a deep red, the head of a dragon engraved in the middle.__ The locket unlike the other items was bronze, the size of a silver dollar, rose petals, just like those on the pocket watch, adorning the front. A single black opal sat in the middle. Both rings were cut from an onyx stone, a jade dragon head on the top, small ruby's encircling it. Running down one side where silver rose petals with Chinese characters running on the other side also in silver. 'Hope.' The bracelet was the last piece of jewelry cut completely from a jade stone a dragon carved into one side, a dragon on the other, A full rose flower donned the top of the bracelet, the petals in the inside black. _

_The katana sheath was a deep red, silver rose petals running down its length the other side with the word strength on it in black. It had a crimson colored hanging chord. The handle was donned with crimson chord wrappings and pommel, onyx guard. The blade was metal but running along it were three dragons. The dagger was done in the same fashion although with a broader blade instead of three dragons it held two guardian lions. A white tassel hung at the end of the hilt._

_When my grandfather told me he was in position of the items I had no clue as to which one it could be immediately ruling out the sword and dagger. Having cleaned his swords plenty of times I would have stumbled onto them at some point. It was the locket. Up close it was by far the most beautiful thing I'd seen in like ever. It caught the light of the sun and seemed to hold it not like any other metal that would _

_Apparently the original containers of the soul where the swords and staff of the warriors and monk. They had been destroyed the first time the Nian had been unleashed after its containment. When I asked Grandfather Shin how they could have been destroyed he didn't give me an answer. He either doesn't know himself or knows and doesn't wish to tell me but if I am to find and return these pieces then I need to know. This thing cannot be released again. _

_He went on to describe why the items had been engraved so. Grandfather Shin's words exactly"_ . _**Black for the Nian only attacks at night, red to scare it away. The Dragon is a sign for the strength, power, and luck of the warriors. Rose petals for innocence, the lives lost. Jade as a sign of the people. Silver for the hardships faced by the people and the Nian as well."**_

_What bothered me, though, were the items themselves. The story that he had told me was that the Nian had been unleashed twice after being sealed. After the original weapons had been broken the spirits were implanted into eight other items. He's never once mentioned what those were. I even brought it up and once again…no answer. This is getting real old real fast. _

_MeiLi_

_O.o.O_

Swallowing his food Wally was the first to speak up about the situation. "That's a pretty accurate description of the items that we were given. Not to mention of the ones we've seen."

"Yea and she's not the only one bothered by the lack of what happened in between those years either."

_So much written and yet so little answered,_ Dick thought completely agreeing with the two males. Not wanting to think about what the fact of MeiLi having the necklace implied he continued to read.

_September 9__th__ 1995_

_I think it's about time I had that talk with Grandfather Shin about the dreams as they've gotten worse. It's gotten harder and harder to sleep with each passing day the dreams mixing with reality. Little Horse woke me up from the mists of one of the nightmares, being the only light sleeper in the house he told me I had been screaming. Let's get this straight, I do not scream, I don't even mumble or talk let alone snore in my sleep. _

_Knowing me to be the proud person I am he didn't ask for me to tell him what it was about. Simply asked me if I was okay and left it at that, although I could tell he wanted to. In all of his seven year old wisdom he suggested I write it out like mom tells us to do when we feel a certain way but don't like talking about it. Hence why I have you. _

_So diary, journal…I'll call you Usagi-san (rabbit…bunny…cute beady eyed hopping creature.) seeing as I feel like we should at least be on a name to name basis with me spilling my guts to you and all. It started off with buildings, people's homes burning down to the ground as screams filled the night air, people running everywhere trying to get to loved ones. So many people littered the ground, some injured, others close to dying and some…Dead. The grass was soaked with blood, people and animal as the Nian stood in the middle of the wreckage eyes blazing, mouth open in a mighty and frightening roar._

_All I could do was watch as it tore people apart, women, men, and even children as young as one years old. All by this creature, this spirit that is so very angry. I could do nothing but stand there as it turned to me, blood from its victims dripping from crimson stained fangs and fur, dripping down to its claws but it's eyes. Its eyes were what scared me so much. They were so black and cold, void of everything but fury and pain. With all of the firs around all I could feel was the cold from that gaze pierce through me and God it hurt. _

_It was like my heart had stopped beating looking into it. Like it was searching into my very own soul. The dream stopped, or at least I was woken up before the Nian could make me its next victim. It came so close I could feel it's breath against my skin. It felt so real. Even waling up it was like I could still smell the smoke from the burning fields and buildings and others things. It was horrible. _

_MeiLi_

_O.o.O_

"So this book," Wally spoke putting down his fork on now empty plate. "Details the Nian? What it did, destruction, whole shebang? Who wrote it?"

"I don't even think she knows," Dick answered scanning over his notes. "But for someone to capture the destruction to perfectly and not have been harmed…It would be enough to give anyone nightmares."

"Could be why Ying refused to give it back."

Looking to the older male Dick couldn't agree more. "That may be the case but no one should keep something like that to themselves. We're not even reading the actual account but just from what she's saying alone…That's enough to give even me the willies."

"Apparently after his outburst yesterday I'd say so."

"He really needs to relax," Wally said, his comment not 100% directed to the absent male.

"Yeah he does," Roy said catching on quick to Wally's angle.

Dick ever the smart cookie glared at both males before continuing.

_September 9__th__ 1995_

_I'm back Usagi-san. I talked to Grandfather today about the dreams. Apparently it's a normal thing being freaked by this creature. He said the reason I feel it so much is because I'm a passionate person. Gee, I thought it was because reading this thing was like watching a horror film and eating sweets right before bed. Grandfather said that there was more to the Nian that I needed to read on before even considering looking for the items. I need to understand why I am to do this for myself. Kind of feels like I'm on a quest for the Holy Grail, only there's nothing really religious about this thing. _

_I asked him if he'd had nightmares about it before too. I was surprised he answered. All of the time when he was reading it. Apparently not all people who read it will get the crap scared out of them like I did, like he did in the past. Asking whether father had been scared reading the book Grandfather told me he had not. That was pretty weird considering father is one of the most compassionate people that I know. _

_He's also a male, however, and can be very proud at times. Maybe he just didn't want to tell Grandfather about his own experiences with the book. I still have that sinking suspicion that Grandfather isn't telling me something important. I'm going to have to do a lot of investigating for myself it would seem. _

_At least the talk shed some light out on what is going on even if a little. I just hate being kept out in the dark about things._

_MeiLi_

_September 9__th__ 1995_

_Later today I saw a man at least I think it was a man while I was cleaning up the studio after training. White mask, red eyes, five black horns and long protruding yellow teeth. The bottom portion of the mask was painted black, white fur like a beard streaming down from the chin with white eyebrows. _

_They had drawn a sword and ran at me. Too shocked at the moment to really defend myself I had managed to at least, through muscle memory use the broom in my hands to slow down the attack. The sword, however, cut through the wood like a hot knife through butter. Wasn't much use to me after that, thank goodness I was taught a little about eskrima fighting or I would not be writing to you this. _

_A lifetime of martial arts wouldn't have had me ready against this male and my life had at that point counted on it. I still have a pretty sizeable bruise where he kicked me in the stomach. I hit the ground pretty hard but what happened after that shocked the hell out of me. Instead of charging in like I thought he would, the guy just sheathed back his sword and bowed to me before leaving. _

_I didn't know at that point what to think. Like did that really just happen? Getting up I went to go find Grandfather Shin to make sure he and the others were okay. Pulling him aside as not to scare the others, mainly my mother I told him about what had happened. _

_Grandfather Shin went on to describe to me that who I had just seen belonged to the Shadow Oni Organization. One of the Three Lords men we call them. Apparently the knowledge that the items have at some point been within the area is not an uncommon thing among the people and they were after it. It was just a good thing that he didn't know outright that our family guards them. They would not have let up if he had. _

_I asked Grandfather, well, more like told him, that I had a suspicion the Shadow organization were the ones who had killed the original family. It made sense with the way they went around wearing masks and all, not to mention the close call I just had with one. He said that it was very possible but not that likely. Many people within the culture wore masks at one point or another whether it times of war or for shows within plays. Besides, the mask had Japanese origins, including the Organization themselves. They couldn't have known about the Nian for as long as our own family. _

_Agreeing with the male I kept my real feelings to myself. They had a hand in that slaying. There is no _doubt about it.

_I believe I'm going to have to dig into the organization as well as the other three if I want a clear answer. _

_MeiLi_

_O.o.O_

There was no clear place to begin picking apart that entry in the journal.

She had been attacked by a male whom was after the items it seemed. There couldn't be much of another reason although it made to wonder just how he found out she possibly had them. Why would he have attacked not even a month after her finding out about it when the only other person who could have known was her grandfather? Had he set her up? Dick ever with his paranoid thoughts shook his head.

They either stopped their attack because they felt she had nothing or were never after her life to begin with, if in fact the male was after the items. It could have just been timing…Once again Dick's gut was nagging at him that there were no coincidences when it came to this what-so-ever.

The masked figure being of Shadow Oni origins just confirmed that coincidences were not at play here. Artemis had run into a male with a not so similar mask twice already both on missions, one of which had nothing to do with the items. Now Dick was thinking that may not be the case.

"I think we may need to visit that museum again."

"What do you mean?"

"If the Shadow Oni are after the items and one of them showed up while we were on a mission that had absolutely nothing to do with the items then it's a pretty decent place to start looking for answers on our own."

Nodding his head Wally understood where his younger friend was going. "If an item had been there he wouldn't have ran away so fast. So something else caught their attention."

"Enough to make them curious but not enough to warrant them getting caught by the cops or engaging in a bigger fight then what they could handle."

"We've only seemed to run into one," Roy added placing his fork down. "Ying spoke of them as an organization and they normally have more than one person."

"Point taken…He never did say what type of organization they are."

Shaking his head Dick fingered the page he was on before flipping through his notes. "No. But from the way MeiLi describes the male it's not like he's out for blood." Ignoring the look he was getting from both males Dick continued to flip through the notes. It was easier at the moment to refer to the female…to his mother…by the name she had used whilst writing the diary., It helped a bit to keep the image of the woman he had intact not knowing if he could handle what she was writing in her diary. This woman he did not know.

Shooting a quick glance at Roy who shook his head Wally nodded before continuing the talk. "Even talking to Artemis she said he didn't have that vibe like Kaito and the Jade Sun had….What?" Wally asked raising a red brow at the older blue eyed male at the table.

"When did you start talking to Artemis?"

Giving the older redhead a look that said not to start Wally shrugged his shoulders. "When you get passed the 'I can kill you in my sleep' persona that she gives off she's not that bad."

"And they've been spending more time together," Dick added popping a piece of bacon into his mouth.

"Dude. I'm helping her with her sparring."

"If that's what you want to call it."

"Troll."

"Whatever," Roy said pushing his plate further up the table. "MeiLi had a suspicion that they had something to do with the deaths of the first guardians. Makes sense and with the way her grandfather told her not to talk to her father, he's hiding something."

"But what?"

"Don't know."

"So museum hit up it is," Wally said getting up to collect the plates. He made breakfast so it was someone else's duty to do the dishes. Roy would get suckered into doing it for sure. Thinking back to the matter at hand the speedster ran everything that they had talked about in his mind taking only a few seconds.

"The first guardians were slain….By mask wearing people, and your family…MeiLi's ancestors," Wally corrected after receiving a dark glare from the mini bat," took over. Only for the mask people to show again, who could be Shadow Oni. Is it possible that they aren't really after the items?"

"What do you mean?"

"They killed the family but left the book behind and others alive? If I was a mastermind behind something that foul I wouldn't want any lose ends let alone a book that could hold all of the answered to slip away just like that. Then to show up out of nowhere, fight one of the guardians, and leave. Seems a little…I don't know. Fishy."

Nodding his head Dick agreed. The male had a point. "So they could be what? People who watch over the guardians."

"Ying never mentioned anything about that."

"That's if this is true." Going back to the notes Dick went back to the page they had left off on not much left to go through after this entry.

_September 13__th__ 1995_

_I saw that masked figure again today. _

_I was walking along the eastern side of the training building once again cleaning up, Grandfather left early to meet up with some of his friends, obviously they're going into town to gamble and drink. Old people. Anyway that's not really what has me spooked. You see rounding the corner to the courtyard in the back I heard Little Horse talking to someone. _

_Thinking that it was one of my little siblings or Father, he had the habit of going to check up on me during training, I was shocked to say the least when kneeling in front of him was the masked male. He was facing away from me with his back turned so he had no idea I was there at least I thought. Little Horse continued on talking to him as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. _

_I couldn't make out what he was talking about but it must have been martial arts because Little Horse was punching the air the male seemingly trying to straighten out what he was doing wrong. About to open my mouth he patted Little Horse on the head and left as fast as he appeared the first time I'd seen him. Rushing over to my brother to make sure he was okay Little Horse seemed to not think anything unusual or out of place at what had just happened. _

_He knew not to talk to strangers especially those on out property and even more so those who wore masks. What if something had happened to him? Better yet who had just let him wander by himself like that? The kid was seven for crying out loud!_

_After asking him who the male was and what they had been talking about Little Horse went on to tell me that this person had been speaking to him for the past few weeks now, even gave him a name. Resura. Bone Crusher. He told me the man was very nice to him but for some reason had kept calling him Young Phoenix. _

_He apologized for talking to the man knowing that he shouldn't have been but he was family. Even had the same tattoo Father had of the 'cool lions and dragon.' This was starting to get crazy. Having to still scold my brother for doing something so reckless I couldn't stay mad at him and just sent him right on home. I needed to find grandfather and tell him this right away. If the guy truly had the tattoo then that means that he knew about this the whole time…I don't know what to think anymore._

_MeLi_

_O.o.O_

Those words echoed how they all felt in the room as Dick finished reading to them what he had spent doing for much of the night.

"Wow."

"Yea," Dick said fixing his notes into the book. "Her grandfather is definitely keeping something from her and I wanted to find out but-"

"You need to relax a bit."

Looking to the older male at the table Dick was about to say something when he was cut off by the second oldest in the room. "No he's right Dick. There's not much in you going crazy over this when you have friends to help you out."

"I know but-"

"We didn't ask you a question," Roy said leaning over the table his gaze locked onto the younger male. "The next time you do something selfish like this again I will beat you till you get it through that paranoid head of yours."

"Selfish? How the hell am I being selfish? You aren't the one who found out that everything they know about their parents is a complete lie. You-"

"You're right…I haven't…But I'm not ignoring the fact that I have people in my life that want to and are more than willing to help. Get it through that stubborn paranoid head of yours Richard." Dick flinched at the gruff use of his whole first name. "You have Wally, you have me, the team, and Bruce when he stops being an idiot. You will get through this."

Casting his eyes down Dick took a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

"We may not be blood related Dick but we are your family, whether you like it or not."

"So trust us enough to help you out. Regardless of what you find or whatever the case may be we have your back…And that is the most sentimental you are going to get me this early in the morning."

A small smile graced Dick's face at his older brother's words. "You're right…I shouldn't have acted like that. It's just that…Well."

"We gotcha," Wally said walking back over to the table.

"I'm sorry."

"Rule number 6."

Smirking Wally sped over to Dick's side leaning on his shoulder. "He's covered by rule 18 though so it's all good."

Rolling his eyes at his brothers NCIS reference Dick stood from the table, playfully brushing off Wally's arm, before heading back into the living room. "Dorks."

-X-

5:46p.m.

**Recognize Robin B01**

**Recognize Red Arrow B06**

**Recognize Kid Flash B03**

"What did you guys do today?" Raquel asked turning to the boys as they entered the mountain's living room. She and Zatanna had been watching Maury on one of its specials. Am I a Man or a Woman? The last time an episode like that had come on Wally had bet Robin he could get all of them right. Thirty bucks was their wager. Whether it was pure luck or his 'flirtiness,' he had gotten all of them right even the ones the Boy Wonder was sure was the opposite sex. One of the reasons he wasn't too sore losing that thirty bucks to the smurf just a few weeks ago.

"Nothing. Just busted both Raggedy Ann and Wendy's butts in B-ball."

"Cheating monkey," Roy mumbled making his way past the short raven to sit down. Robin had continuously stolen the ball from both older males somehow using them as vaults and step ladders to make aerial shots. The final score set at Roy 12, Wally 14 and Robin 27. Effectively dubbed 'Spider Monkey' for the rest of the day they had sat down later for ice cream, per Roy's treat, before making their way to the cave.

It was nice just relaxing and not stressing over much for the time being. He still had papers to write for his class but would consider doing it sometime within that weekend. Who said you couldn't do a fifteen page paper in two days? If High school taught you nothing it was to B.S your way through English 101 in college. So far nothing less than an A on his work.

Back to the TV a red haired Filipino diva walked onto the stage wearing a bikini top, with a white Greek style skirt and six inch stilettoes that tied up to her knees. Candy Rain.

_What the heck?_ Roy narrowed his eyes trying to figure out if the person on screen was once a dude or always a chic. He wasn't the person to judge others…a lot but that 'diva' had way too nice legs to be a female. (A/N:That's how I always get them. Lol.) About to state his opinion he was cut off by Artemis who had appeared out of nowhere.

"That is so totally a woman."

"Man," Wally stated popping an orange slice into his mouth.

Turning to the redhead with a glint in her eyes Artemis crossed her arms. "Wanna bet Kid-hormones?"

Raising an eyebrow and smirking Wally glanced at Robin who already knew where this was headed before answering the blonde. "Loser buys lunch."

"You're on." Shaking hands to solidify the deal the rest of the room turned back to the television to see the scantily clad diva walk between two podiums, one with a statue of David and the other with the Venus de Milo. Walking between them a few more times with dramatic drum roll effect in the back she stopped before picking up the Venus de Milo. Artemis smirked until the diva tossed it behind her and picked up the statue of David.

"How does Ralphs Diner sound?" Wally asked popping another orange slice into his mouth wearing his ever famous cheeky grin. Glaring Artemis turned onto her heels leaving the room and a cackling Robin behind her.

"You just better not try to eat through my pockets," she called irritably over her shoulder.

"Would never dream of it beautiful," Wally shot at the female before plopping down onto the couch. "You can pick me up at seven tomorrow."

"Can it!"

Sitting down next to his best friend Robin stole the last of Wally's orange slices before speaking. "Doesn't help her cause that this was a repeat?"

"She still would have lost either way," Wally shrugged now peeling a grapefruit. "Where's Kaldur?" Wally asked once having a look around the room. Come to think of it M'gann and Conner were missing too. He hadn't seen Wolf or heard Sphere so they might have been out.

"He's still in Atlantis," Raquel answered eyes still glued to the TV as a rather square jawed diva came onto the screen wearing a tight leather cat suit that would have rivaled Cat Womans. "That has to be a woman."

"Guy."

Turning to the redhead Raquel laughed. "There is no way I'm betting you any time after what you just did."

Shrugging his shoulders Wally went back to watching the show not at all minding that Robin continuously stole a grapefruit slice from him Roy, joining in soon after. Let it have been anyone else and they'd have one less finger to write with.

-X-

5:46 p.m.

"You're not doing much help being a body guard when you're out cold in my office." Groaning Ying opened his eyes wondering why his boss was hovering over him, his cane not but a few inches from his face. Glaring at the culprit that disturbed his sleep Ying swatted away at the cane closing his eyes hoping that maybe the male would go away before realizing that he was one, not at his studio but at work and two…he had in fact fallen asleep. K'uso.

"Shut it old timer." Sitting up Ying looked down at the blanket that was over him which clearly was not there when he fell out. Thinking of one of two people who could have done so his mind ran to another when he saw a stuffed horse resting in the crock of his arm. _Sammy?_ "Fiore and Sammy were here?"

"Yep. Along with Jill and Amari. You slept like the dead."

_Explains why I didn't wake up when they came in_, Ying thought removing the horse from his arm to place it on the coffee table. _That is highly embarrassing_.

"Been trying to wake you for the last five minutes. Was five seconds from either hitting you with my cane or dousing you in cold water." Rubbing his eyes Ying didn't have to look up to know the male was concerned about him. He had a funny borderline aggressive way at times of showing it but he did care.

Ignoring the threats of bodily harm Ying scrunched his eyes realizing for the first time that his glasses were missing. _Did I even grab them before I left?_ He wondered to himself. _This is not my week._ "What time is it?"

"5:47."

Glaring once again at the male Ying placed his head in his hands. "And you could not have woken me an hour ago? The office closes at 4:30."

"I was thinking that your snoring would have woken you up. You were louder than the jackhammers outside."

"I am going to be late if-" Lee poked the younger male in the chest with his cane hard enough to knock him back down onto the sofa when he made to stand.

Blunt as ever Lee didn't wait for the male to say anything before delving into a conversation. If he wasn't going to speak about the elephant in the room then he would. "Your attitude change is because I'm retiring."

Glare still in place running his hand over his chest Ying rolled his eyes. "Typical for you to think everything revolves around your life is it not?"

"I'm just that great. Move over." Sitting down next to the male Lee let his cane rest against his knee before continuing. "Ever since I told you the news other than showing up to work and checking in with me when you're not in for the day you've been avoiding me. I gave you the option of being out if you want to. Either shape up and stop moping or leave."

"I am not moping old man. You would not last half a day without me and you know it. Especially now that you are…" Ying stopped finding it hard to continue with the conversation. If he did not want to talk about it he could only imagine how the older male was feeling.

Leaning back into the sofa Lee closed his eyes a small smile on his face. "You know when you sound like that you're less annoying."

"And you are still an aggravating jerk."

"Thank you." Giving Ying a sidelong glance he knew in a few minutes the male would crack under the pressure. He had done so with his daughter many a times when she was around his age and at that 'I'm too old to talk to you what would you know,' phase. He just crossed his legs to get more comfortable and waited.

Sure enough it took Ying no more than fifteen minutes to spill what had been bothering him the past few weeks from the missions-both his own and Batman's, to working with the team, his nightmares, and Lee's news of his sickness. To say that he was stressed was an understatement. "I went on a slight rant last night in front of the team. Not the most embarrassing thing to date," Ying said picking up the black stuffed horse absently counting how many hoof prints it had on its body, "but close enough."

Opting to talk about the team first Lee would eventually get around to everything else on the males list. Talking to the young man next to him was an art he studied for the last four years figuring what did and didn't work. "And they?"

"I do not know. Think I shocked them silent. They did not say anything afterwards and I did not stick around for anything."

"When did you start caring about what others thought of you?"

"I do not," Ying exclaimed narrowing his eyes but keeping them on the horse. Truth be told he wasn't sure anymore. He'd been furious with Superman and Wonderwoman when they had bad mouthed Lee behind his back. Then, he didn't care what they had said about him…still didn't…But with the team it was a bit different. Their suspicion of him was…irking to say the least. Was that why he had blown up? To get the approval of others was never within his nature but…

"You need to tell them."

Taken out of his thoughts Ying placed the horse on his lap poking it in it its cream colored stomach. "Tell them what?"

"Why you really came over here."

Still poking the horse Ying kept his attention purposefully on the stuffed animal. For some reason it made things easier to talk about…He'd thank Sammy when he saw the little girl later. "The real reason why I came over here was to kill you."

Looking to the younger male Lee scowled trying to figure out of the male was joking or not before remembering that was in fact the underlying reason in which the young man had wanted a job with him in the first place. Waving the confession away like it was nothing Lee threw on a smile. "Hm…Yea you're right. The second main reason why you came over here then."

"I highly doubt they would believe me."

"They won't," Lee said putting emphasis on the negative, "If they find out themselves."

"Not all people are as…forgiving…or naïve…as you are Lee."

"Or maybe it's just that in my old age I can see things that you young whippersnappers can't."

Quirking a brow at the unfamiliar word Ying shook his head. "Do Fiore and the children know you are sick?"

"At the moment," Lee sighed running his hand through his hair opting not to say anything about the slight topic changer. "It's just you."

Looking up for once only for a short moment Ying spoke his piece before turning back to the horse. "You should tell them. I am sure they are worried about you."

Lee could sense an underlying tone of something at Ying's last few words. _Jealousy? No…Ying wasn't that childish, although…_"I'm pretty sure they have their hands full with you at the moment." For better emphasis he pointed at the horse Ying was still fiddling with.

Not going to argue with the male further on that subject, he knew he'd lose, Ying kept his mouth shut. Four years of a new environment and it was still not easy picking up when people where sincere about something or not. He didn't have to worry so much about it when it came to Lee and his family, however. The only person who knew about his prior engagements was Lee, he suspected his daughter knew but couldn't be sure. Either way they never gave him a reason of why he shouldn't trust them.

He just wasn't sure if it was right of them to have done so with him.

"You think too loud."

"Excuse me."

"Rather, your expressions tend to be written in your movements. Whenever you're nervous you have this tendency to fiddle with things. I'm not too sure yet whether it's maddening or cute."

Scoffing at the older males words Ying looked down if not only to hide the heat in his cheeks from humiliation( he was not cute…) but to notice that he had in fact been fiddling with the horses red bow tying and untying it.

Taking the stuffed toy Lee retied the bow before giving it back to the male. "What's done is done. There's more to you than what could have been."

"I am afraid of failing at this. It wouldn't be the first time."

Eyes slightly wider Lee was not expecting the male to come out and say it. "Oh…and what else have you failed at?"

Eyes darkening Ying glanced at Lee. "You're still alive right?"

"I'm starting to feel like you're still trying to off me," Lee asked chuckling at the dark look the male was giving him. "You didn't fail you just decided that killing an old man was not worth your time. Which I am very grateful for to you," Lee added with a smile. "I'm pretty sure it was one of the first decisions you made individualistically."

"Do not play me for a fool old man."

Paying no heed to the raise of tone in the younger males voice Lee shrugged but continued on. "You do that enough on your own. Listen…Continue to doubt yourself and you will fall on your face. Trust in yourself and your team. You trust them right?"

It took Ying a moment longer to answer this question Lee taking that for once it wasn't an automated answer. "I want to."

"What's stopping you?" At this Ying didn't answer. Sighing Lee changed directions turning more to face the younger male. "You trust Fiore right?"

A pause. "Yes."

"Jill, Amari, and Sammy? You trust them?"

Narrowing his eyes in confusion Ying obviously had no clue as to where the older male was going with his questions. "Of course."

"And what about me?"

"You should not even have to ask."

Turning the rest of him to fully face the male Lee wore his –how dumb can you be expression. "Then what is stopping you from trusting a bunch of kids?"

Narrowing his eyes now for a different reason Ying looked away back to the horse. Flailing its front legs for a bit trying to find the right words he couldn't really answer that question right away. _Best to talk it through then._ Pulling his feet up on the sofa, he had long ago discarded his shoes he hugged the horse to him not at all caring right now just how ridiculous he looked. He'd been past that phase the moment he woke up hugging the stuffed toy.

"They are smart. Extremely smart. They may figure me out before the League does that much is certain if I do not tell them first. Between that they work hard and have a great strive for what they believe in. It is nice to see that. It is…new. They all have this great sense of justice and doing what is right. What I am asking of them…There might be times when they will have to do things they would never imagine doing like leaving a teammate behind…killing…I don't feel right asking them to do something like that. They have been fighting crime for a lot longer than I have but for everything that it is worth they are still innocent."

Mulling over the younger males words Lee understood. "Everyone needs to grow up sometime Ying. If not now they will learn all of this hard stuff eventually. And it may not be such a bad thing."

"I do not know."

"What's the harm?"

Stretching the horses ears Ying answered absently. "They could get hurt…killed even."

"I doubt it."

"How can you be so sure?"

"You said it yourself. They are smart kids who have been doing this job a lot longer than you have….Well, crime fighting anyway. Have faith and trust. It goes a long way."

Sighing Ying knew there was no getting around the males words. He would mull them over later when he had the time to digest everything. The older male had yet to steer him wrong why start now?

"Trust begins with yourself. You should start there whippersnapper."

"What is with you and that word?"

"I did give you a dictionary. Listen to the old man," Lee said patting Ying on the knee before reaching for his cane. "And help him up so he can go home and start dinner."

Smirking Ying placed the horse back down onto the coffee table before standing. Clasping the older males hand in his Ying kept quiet about the fact the male had lost weight, not enough to notice visibly especially with him wearing suits all of the time but it would not go unnoticed for long.

"That's yours by the way."

"What?"

"The horse."

"No it's-"

"Sammy got it for you. Got it at a carnival today. Some fortune teller."

Surprise laced the younger male's features. "Oh." Looking at the horse again Ying smiled before picking it back up. He'd place it with the rabbit he'd gotten from Fiore for his birthday. "What'd she name it?"

Thinking Lee placed his hand to his chin. "PaiSho I think…Something from that Avatar show she's always talking about."

Chuckling Ying shook his head. "How did she manage to carry it in here? It is almost as big as she."

"That's why she had Amari carrying it."

Laughing now that he wasn't the only one caught in a compromising situation Ying walked over to the other side of the room fitting on his shoes before turning back to Lee. This smile the older male did not like. "I forgot to tell Sherry to make that eye appointment."

"Dolt."

"Old coot."

Staring down at the horse Ying couldn't help to think that maybe things would be okay.

-X-

7:56p.m.

**Recognize Aqualad B01**

The Atlantean walked into the cave which was unusually quite considering the day of the week that they were in.

"Hey Kaldur," Robin greeted the older male as he and Zatanna sat in the kitchen decorating some of cookies that M'gann had made earlier that day. She had purposely left a note and threat to Wally for him to not touch the cookies. After the last time he hadn't listened (and walked around the rest of the day with pink hair thanks to the help of their resident magician) he had learned his lesson.

"How's it going?" Zatanna asked after finishing up her third cookie. She had so far decorated each one with a symbol of their teammates having done Artemis, M'gann and Rocket. Working on hers she had left Robin to do the boys.

"I have great news. The Queen has given birth to her son Prince Orin Jr."

"Oh wow!" Hopping out of her chair Zatanna gave Kaldur a huge hug in congratulations. "That's wonderful. You have got to get a picture for us."

Chuckling Kaldur agreed. "When I acquired a waterproof camera I am sure the Queen would not mind." Kaldur caught something that came hurtling at him from the side to see it was a small camera. Raising a brow at the raven haired male still at the table Kaldur knew not to ask where he had produced it from let alone from where he got it. "Thank you friend."

"Don't mention it."

"Where are the others?"

"If you want to share the news, Conner and M'gann are still out, Wally is sparring with Artemis in the weight room and Roy is playing Smash Bros. with Raquel in the living room."

Very unusual indeed, Kaldur thought before shrugging it off. It was nice to see the team bonding with different people. It brought them closer together and more like a second family. Bidding the two younger team members a short adios he went off to the living room no doubt to spread his good news.

That left once again Robin and Zatanna alone in the kitchen to work on the cookies. It was nice between the two a little light banter being passed in between them. It was nice seeing as among the team he and the magician hadn't spent much time together with things speeding up mission wise for them all.

Thinking on the mission his thoughts slowly but surely went to the diary and what he had translated earlier that night/day. It was hard to think of the two people who raised him for those nine years to be any different than what he remembered. He wanted to know what the rest of it said but at the same time Roy and Wally where right. He was driving himself crazy trying to figure everything out, especially trying to do it himself. He knew Roy would hold true on his promise if he did it again.

That was something even he was not willing to test.

The raven was brought out of his thoughts by something unpleasantly stick and green hitting him on his left cheek…Touching the assaulted area he brought his hand back to see green icing coating his fingertips. Zatanna...Looking over to the female he glared through his sunglasses as the female opposite him smiled.

"You really need to stop brooding." Whipping the icing from his cheek Robin took the tub of red frosting he had been using to do Superboys 'S' a glint shining off of his glasses that told Zatanna to wither grab her own tub or make for the hills.

Maybe things would start to look up from here.

End

I love when people are optimistic. Even when they shouldn't be. It's always that little glimmer of hope, that feel good moment I like shattering into a million pieces. And why not? School has done that to me for the past four years…Thank you American Government and Loans…How I look forward to paying you back with 3/4ths of my paycheck. XD.

**Next up on Effects of Black and White**

The gentleman was tall, taller than Bruce that was for sure. He was built with olive skin, short jet black hair his sideburns trailing down connecting to his full beard and mustache, dark brown almost black eyes. He was wearing a light grey suit, pastel blue shirt underneath with dark blue gators. Raising an eyebrow at the males fashion sense Robin made to hurry to catch up with the rest of the team figuring they had gone straight when the male called out to him.

"Why the rush Richard?"

Stopping in his tracks the hairs on the back of Robins neck stood on edge as he turned back to face the male. Not saying a word he stared at him particularly his face trying to see if maybe at some point their paths had been crossed at school. It was a big campus after all but when no teacher came to mind Robin grew extremely wary.

"It has really been a long time. You don't remember me do you. You were just a little boy. Dorian."

Thinking back Robin narrowed his eyes behind dark shades. The Dorian that he knew had passed away some two three years ago at 103 years old. This male was far from that not even half a century years old. Maybe around 45.

"Kind of young to be 100 years old don't you think."

Chuckling Dorian smiled which to Robin was anything but inviting. "103 to be exact and yes. The Dorian you are thinking of was my father. I'm junior. Never thought I'd see you again let alone here. I am deeply sorry to hear about your parents."

Taking a small step back Robin could definitely say he did not like this situation. Something about the male was sending a serious red flag like he should remember something. "Yea, I kind of don't want to talk about that."

Dorian's smile grew a bit wider. "And who would?"


	19. Chapter 19

**Yea I know it's been a minute. Been going through a lot with life. Who isn't? **

**Disclaimer…Other than original character(s) I do not own Young Justice. Would love to…but life and loans is hindering me from committing such a joyous act. **

**A:N- WARNING/View Discretion is advised- Blood is in this chapter meaning someone may or may not be dead by the end of this chapter. I don't know how I feel right now. So we'll see during the next chapter. **

**Thank you TimeXgone23…for finally updating your story. Finally…XD. Lol. I was close to disowning you. Lol. JK.**

**Thank you for reading and enjoy!**

**Quote of the day-****If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future. -Winston Churchill**

**Saturday**

**2:30p.m.**

"Why are we here again?" Wally asked looking through the throng of people walking before them as they tried to pick out a familiar face.

"Black Canary kicked us out of the cave," Raquel voiced shielding her eyes from the sun while looking as well. She had flipped the New York Yankees hat she'd been wearing backwards thinking it better to find 'Waldo'. Not an immediate fan of the team she had been thinking when in Rome. It must have been the right idea as she'd gotten a few nods of approval. Obviously people could figure they were not from around there.

Kaldur who was a bit ahead of the group turned to face the two younger members. "It is a good team building exercise."

"So you say now." Conner said narrowing his eyes at the male with a pet monkey dancing to music not too far from where they stood. Inching closer to M'gann he took a hold of her hand.

On their Saturday off and away from classes, it was the weekend, Black Canary had kicked them out of the cave at two saying that Ying had stopped by earlier that morning asking if the team would like to go to the fair taking place in the city. He had left tickets for admission, already paid for, with her for the team saying that he'd be there around one babysitting his boss's youngest granddaughter.

Thinking it a wonderful idea Black Canary had kept it a secret waiting for the whole team plus Roy to be at the cave and after Artemis and Wally had arrived after lunch she dropped the news and here they were thirty minutes later. The smell of horses and farm animals hit them in the face mixed with smoke and different varieties of food.

They spotted Ying and a little girl standing in front of a cotton candy booth the woman behind the machine swirling a white cone around the drum picking up the fluffy blue treat.

"Is he?" Artemis asked turning to the closest person, Roy who was smirking.

"Oh yea."

"Oh this is priceless." Raquel added once she caught sight of the male.

Getting closer Robin shouted out to the older male gaining his and the little girls attention. "Nice shirt."

Ying not wearing his normal long sleeved shirt and vest was out and about in a white long sleeved shirt with a light pink T over it. What had the group snickering was the cutesy black cat on the shirt with white glasses the words 'I is Cute,' written out in purple with glitter. Throwing on a smile that clearly said he would maim any one of them for laughing outright he thanked them. "Thank you, Sammy here picked it out for me."

The little girl, Sammy was wearing a long sleeved green and yellow shirt with a white zip up hoodie, black jeans and sneakers, a purple rabbit backpack in hand. Her hair had been half done in cornrows the rest taken back into a rather large puff at the back of her head.

Smiling brightly the little girl bounced on her heels excitedly. "He said he didn't have one in that color so I got it for him."

"It brings out your eyes," Wally commented earning a glare from the male.

"Sammy," Ying said kneeling down to be at eye level with the little girl. "These are the ruffians I was telling you about earlier." Going through each name Sammy shook each of the male's hands while hugging the females throwing them off with her politeness.

"Nice to meet you. They don't look at all like monsters though," She added turning back to Ying.

Going to ignore the fact that he had initially introduced them all to the little girl as monsters Artemis studied the male before her. "Did she pick out that face paint too?" Artemis asked noting the frog Ying had painted on his right cheek.

Not missing the jab he'd let it slide after Sammy outing him. "She wanted to match." Sure enough Sammy had a frog painted on her too opting for it to be on her left cheek instead.

"Excuse me sir?" Turning around to face the female at the cotton candy booth Ying apologized before paying for the candy and handing it to Sammy pilfering some of it for himself.

"So, you guys played any games yet?"

"No. I was going to do the darts but Sammy did not see a poster she wanted."

Turning to the booth the back wall was filled with posters of league members even having a few with all seven of the founding members.

"Seems like a cool booth to me," Wally said noticing the smaller posters of the Young Justice team although solo shots. He had to say he was looking good.

Crossing her arms over her chest Sammy glared over at the booth the attendant nervously scratching at the back of his neck. Robin was by far impressed at the females glare. She had to be no older than seven or eight. "But why don't they have any Crimson Avenger posters?"

"Um…Well Sammy," Ying said taking her bag from her to carry it. "Not many people know about him and he is not really part of the League."

"But he's way cool and helps people and he's nice. Like the Leagues sidekicks! They're awesome!"

Completely disregarding the little girl had called them all sidekicks Wally stooped down to be at eye level with her. "Oh…who's your favorite?"

Thinking about it Sammy placed a finger to her chin in thought tapping her foot. "Artemis," turning to the blonde haired female of the group Sammy stared at her with large brown eyes. "Were you named after her?"

"Um….ah."

"Hey Sammy is there another ride you wanted to go on?" Ying butt into the conversation saving Artemis from answering the question.

Mind on another topic Sammy's eyes lit up for a whole new reason not from the sugar. "I promised Madam Vrosh I'd visit her again today and like Grandpa Lee I keep my promises." Smiling for extra effect that was all it took for her to have Ying wrapped around her little finger yet again as he complied without so much as a struggle.

"Do you remember the way?"

"Yep!"

Turning to the group who should have ran the moment the little girl even asked to go to the fortune teller Ying smiled. "Who else wants to go?"

Said like a question Robin and the others heard the underlying 'None of you are leaving me by myself.' Agreeing to go they followed Sammy and Ying to the tent as she had grabbed a hold of Ying's hand swinging it between them as they walked. Robin ever the observant one noticed how at ease Ying was with the little girl chatting with her in a more or less two sided conversation.

Looking around the carnival it kind of reminded him of his time at the circus as they passed by people walking around on stilts doing juggling acts and even a stage with people performing with fire. He got a bit side tracked when they passed a petting zoo, an elephant and camel ride right next to it. Seeing the majestic giant made him miss Jumbe all that much more.

He was brought out of his musings by a hand to his shoulder. "Come on Rob. Trying not to get lost in this place," Wally smirked at his younger friend dragging him along through the crowd to catch up to the team who hadn't gotten that far. Ying had stopped to tie Sammy's shoes the little girl adamant that she could do it herself. The male had calmly stated that she'd been doing it all day and that if his shoes became untied sometime during the day she could tie his for him. A few more words and a pinkie promise later and they were back on track to the fortune tellers.

Traversing through booth upon booth of who knows what Sammy had stopped the group at one in particular that was by far not like any of the others. Like typical as seen on TV teller tents it was dark in color, not enough to be called black but definitely an extreme dark shade of something. Tassels hung off the sides in gold and red with mist slowly rising from the bottom and through the door. To add to the cheesiness there was a crystal ball on an old wooden podium in front of the tent to the side and a sign on a wooden tombstone. 'Madam Vrosh's fortune telling,' done in red paint.

"So…I'm going to go ahead and guess this is it," Wally said trying to keep the skepticism out of his voice. Really he would not be in front of this tent right now on a good or bad day but with the look that Ying had given them.

"Of course it is silly," Sammy said before Artemis could say anything. She was starting to like the little girl more and more. "Come on!" Grabbing Ying by the hand once again she all but dragged the male into the tent the others watching as he got swallowed up by the dark cloth and smoke.

"I've seen way too many movies Baywatch you are not saying anything remotely rude against this teller."

"Hey I'm down with that," Wally said completely agreeing with the grey eyed female. He was not trying to get cursed at any time during his life, especially if he could help it.

Looking from one team member to the other they shrugged before one by one making their way in. To say the tent was bigger than it appeared was an understatement. From the outside it looked like it could fit no more than five maybe six people but there was enough room for a large rectangular table with ten chairs on one side, a single woman sitting on the opposite side of the empty seats. With a deck of cards in hand she looked up her sightless eyes seemingly penetrating through each person as she stopped at a familiar presence.

The woman was…well it was never polite to call a woman old at any age so if Robin were to ball park it…anywhere from oh say 70-135 years old…He was pretty sure it was closer to 100 but he wasn't going to say it outright…That was just plain rude. She wore an orange cream colored scarf, long curly white hair flowing to at least the small of her back a lock of which was braided with beads and feathers trailing down the end.

Her dark skin was wrinkled and weathered the years still somewhat kind to her as she was not skeletal in the least although her fingers where long and spidery. With a bone necklace and many beaded bracelets she was clad in a ruby red long sleeved dress with multicolored scarf wrapped loosely around her neck.

"Why hello again Sammy darling. I see you brought your friend. Ying-Xue was it? And a few others. Please come and sit down."

Glancing at one another again each of the younger occupants of the tent made their way to the table.

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am," Ying said giving a short bow. Whether she could see or not made no difference to him. It was still in his nature to show those many years his senior respect. Walking over to the table with Sammy in tow he sat on a corner seat the others taking up the rest of the empty seating.

Turning her head to face the male Madam Vrosh gave him a toothy grin.

"How did you like the horse? I gave it to Sammy here hoping she would give it to a soul in need of a little quieting."

"Ah…It…helped," Ying fiddled trying to find the right words to say. _How did she?_

Seemingly unperturbed by her own knowledge Madam Vrosh turned to the little girl. "Sammy would you like to be my eyes for this session?"

"Oh can I can I can I?" Ying looked from the older woman to the little girl bouncing on her toes back to the older woman. "I do not see the problem in that." He didn't feel like the older woman could cause any harm and Sammy, as young as she was a very good judge of character.

"So how this works," Mada Vrosh said shuffling her cards as she spoke. "I tell past present, and future seen through the cards." Stopping in mid shuffle she turned to the green eyed redheaded male at the other end of the table. "And no Wallace, this is more accurate than a fortune cookie."

Gaining uncomfortable snickers from half the occupants and a deep blush from the redhead in question Madam Vrosh continued to shuffle her cards laying them out in front of Sammy. Handing the top card to Sammy the little girl took it and placed it behind her back.

"Oh what a very handsome group I have with me this time…And so diverse, but not to worry, Your secrets are safe with me…and you all have some very…very deep secrets. Sammy?"

Taking a card from the pile Sammy gave it to the older woman the card she possessed still behind her back.

Flipping over the first card Madam Vrosh revealed it to be a clown mask. While one side of its face was perfectly painted into a smile the other half was melting pulling everything into distortion the colors blending into one another. "A painted mask will always show the face in which it is set to dry. But the eyes are the window to the soul. Laughter is a gift best given when the heart is also open and laughing. The truth will wash out the facade."

Flipping over the next card passed to her it depicted a caged tiger roaring in anger, a bird of paradise behind it wings spread in flight. "Anger is an emotion used when hiding something beautiful, whether it love, trust, fear or even tears. Embrace your own inner fire and paradise will be yours. The bleeding heart will heal."

Sliding a card out in front of her Madam Vrosh began to speak this time waiting to reveal the card. "Uncertainty within the heart can cloud the beauty of something that was always within sight. Doubt within the heart pollutes space for love, forgiveness, and acceptance." Flipping over the card she revealed a glass cup tilted so that the water inside was spilling into an open hand. Wishes will be granted."

The next card illustrated a black and white horse ropes tied around its neck stretched in opposite directions, the horse in motion to run but do to the restraints could go nowhere. An eagle flew overhead. "Skittish and haunted, yet strong willed, and protective. Pulled each and every direction you are at the edge of breaking like an overused rubber band. Peace of soul will be found. "

Sliding over another card Madam Vrosh flipped it over exposing the picture on the other side to be a collapsing bridge, the metal struts broken crumbling down into the water below. "Independence is a wonderful thing, birds leave the nest and tigers leave to find their own ground. Cutting ties like that to a bridge can collapse a foundation built to last longer than the life of a sea turtle. Actions speak louder than words."

"Sheep are charming little creatures, cute and pleasing. The wolf just as charming may not be as pleasing in the same sense as the sheep but in its own right just as if not more beautiful. A chameleon can only hide itself for so long before it is found out." Turning over the next card it was of a sheep wearing the pelt of a wolf, its head bent down eating the grass that was set before it. "Burried lies will be brought to the surface."

"The iron fist of justice long within its crusade for truth has never been one hundred percent correct. Even those with the ability to see can be blinded by emotions that carry them like driftwood in the tide." Flipping the card over it showed a towering figure of a man standing over another. In one hand he held a hammer with the words guilty on it, in the other, not guilty. It was the guilty hammer the male had slammed against the table, the figure cowering below them having the words innocent written across the back of their shirt. "Trust in what you feel more than what is seen."

Turning over the next card Madam Vrosh "To hold onto something that was once lost to us can drive even the most sane of people into the abyss of despair. To remember is not to forget but also to not stay still within one's own mind. Move and continue to live." Flipping the card over it was of a damn breaking the water spilling over the top and holes. Below it was not a town like most would have thought but an oasis. "Family is never farther away than the heart."

"And the last one," Madam Vrosh said flipping the last of the ten cards handed to her by Sammy. It held the picture of three male lions all within age progression juvenile in the middle. The cub and oldest both had their backs to the middle lion. "The past is a funny thing the future something that is quite fickle. At a crossroad of looking to the future or returning to the past, it is always best to look at things with a fresh set of eyes. A new chapter will be written."

Sammy gave the card she had been holding behind her back to Madam Vrosh who flipped it over laying it before all of the cards in a row. "I see for you all a good future traversed through many trials and tribulations. Many of you will stray from the path, others have already known what it means to fall and some of you will. Still there is always a silver lining." The card itself was blank of anything its face black. Waving her hand over it once the cards face lit up the word 'Faith' appearing in the middle.

"Whether it is within a higher power, within yourself or within the people you are now sitting with. No person can be whole without faith."

Clearly the woman was done with what she had to say they just didn't know what to say. Robin was clear on the fact which card had been flipped for him staring at it sense she overturned it. Through his days at the circus he had never been really big on hanging with their teller as he scared the living crap out of him when he was younger. With that aside the other members had always said how accurate the male was with their fortunes so he was not one to knock someone when they said they could tell the future. Some people where full of crap but others like Dorian, that was his name, and Madam Vrosh. It was downright creepy.

Turning to face Wally he could tell the male was thinking some of the same things. His scientific mind would eventually come up with something on how this woman was able to do what she did but deep down Robin knew Wally would still believe. He'd never admit it being the stubborn male that he was but then he wouldn't be Wally.

"Shhh." Madam Vrosh voiced as Conner was about to speak closing her eyes and for some reason Robin felt he could no longer keep his open. Struggling to do so, however, he felt a rough yet soothing voice enter his mind telling him not to fight. For the first time in his life he listened giving in to the words.

-X-

Opening his eyes in a panic it took Robin a few seconds to realize where he was and who he was with. What he had just been shown by Madam Vrosh was…he didn't even know how to describe it. Looking to the others he could see that they all had some form of experience as well a light sheen of sweat coated Wally's forehead.

"This," Madam Vrosh said turning her head from one face to the next as they all readjusted themselves. "Is the first time I've had so many good fortunes in one room."

Robin wanted to interject. How could what he had just seen be considered remotely good? However, there was a time and a place to talk about things like that and now was neither the time nor that place.

"May you all enjoy the rest of this beautiful day," Madam Vrosh said before turning to Sammy, the only unaffected person in the room. "You did wonderful today Sammy. You have the makings of a fine fortune teller."

"Really?!"

"Yes my child."

"Cool. Thank you Madam Vrosh! I had fun." Giving the woman a hug Sammy skipped back over to Ying who looked like he had wanted to say something but couldn't find the words to put it all together.

"Thank you Madam," he finally settled on. Standing up and reaching for his wallet he stopped when the older woman spoke.

"There is no need for payment young man. Seeing so many good fortunes in one sitting…It's nice to know that there is hope for this world yet. Within a year from now I expect to see you. All of you and tell me about your adventures."

Agreeing with the females terms the group headed back out to the fair their minds completely on the fortune teller.

"That was…freaky," Wally said once they all had made their way out of the tent Robin agreeing with him wholeheartedly.

It was clear than M'gann and Conner were having an internal talk between the two no surprise there. Half wondering what his two best friends had seen, if they had seen anything Robin chose to ask about it later when they weren't around a bagillion people with a set of working ear canals.

"You okay Ying?"

Looking down to the little girl Ying smiled. "Of course." Checking his phone he deduced they had about two more hours to play around before having to head back. "What do you want to do now?"

"Petting zoo!"

"We'll take her," Raquel said stepping up to the little girl who was all smiles at the idea. One it would give the females a chance to ditch the guys and have some girl time, it had been a while and two, save the little girl from mama hen. He looked like he needed to relax anyway.

The look on Ying's face was all telling of his thoughts on that idea, however. He was not buying it. "Oh she'll be fine," Artemis said crossing her arms. Seriously. The way he was acting was like a mother watching her kid go to kindergarten for the first time.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeease!" Sammy asked throwing the male her best puppy dog eyes yanking on his arm. Ever the sucker Ying caved. "Yey! Thank you Ying!" Hugging the male, well his waist anyway, she skipped off to Artemis after getting her bag and some extra money out of the older male. The females soon headed off to on a mini adventure through the fair with the little girl.

"They will bring her back you know," Roy said walking up to the older male who for the most part had continued to stare after the group.

"I know but if something happens-"

"She's with the girls. Somebody would more than likely end up in the hospital before they get within two feet of her," Robin added noting that the male still had not relaxed.

"Meaning," Wally said hitting Ying in the arm to gain his attention. "Have fun. Looks like you need it anyway."

Raising a brow Ying sighed before following the younger males through the crowds in the opposite direction the females had gone to the 'big people' rides.

-X-

"Come on man," Robin said crossing his arms. "Even Roy and Conner have been on at least half of them."

They had been on at least seven rides throughout the fair including the fastest of the rollercoasters in the area. It didn't take much talking Conner to try going on the Superman, while Conner, Kaldur, and Roy had no inclinations what-so-ever of going on the yo-yo. A bribe and dare later and the three had been left winded from screaming and in the case of Roy, cursing, their heads off, although they would say that was not true.

Robin didn't fail to mention he had caught the little ride on camera. He was, however, glad that Conner did not have heat vision or his phone and he would be fried. Try explaining that to Alfred.

While they had been going on death defying rides getting their hearts pumping Ying had opted out, sitting on the nearest bench in the shade of the few trees the city had to offer.

The male had not once budged. "I am fine."

Wally joined in on getting the male to have some fun put in his two cents as well. "You act like an old man watching his kids at the park."

"I feel like it," Ying responded back with a small smirk.

"You know when I said to relax I meant to get on rides and have fun, not literally sit down and do nothing."

"I am fine," Ying answered again.

"Scared?" This came from Roy who too had his arms crossed.

Narrowing his eyes Ying looked from the redhead to the ride they had just gotten on and back. "I do not do heights."

_Should not have told us that_, Robin thought sending Wally and Roy secret looks behind his sunglasses. Years of being around the male the two easily picked it up, Ying feeling something was about to be very wrong very soon. For once he should have kept his mouth shut.

-X-

"How did you like the elephant ride?" Zatanna asked the little girl whom they had somewhat kidnapped from her bodyguard/mother hen.

"It was the best. Jadari is so cute." Only a seven year old would find a huge two ton grey and extremely wrinkled giant cute. To each their own Artemis thought not at all minding the giant and yet gentle creature herself.

While the boys had been doing who knows what Artemis and the others had taken Sammy to the petting zoo as per request. Afterwards they had made their way to the elephant ride and back to the face painter to have their own done. Artemis with a Unicorn on her left cheek, M'gann had chosen a bumblebee, Zatanna sporting a rabbit being pulled out of a hat on her right cheek and Raquel with a butterfly on her left cheek.

Meeting up with the boys near the rides Zatanna shook her head at the sight before her.

"Is he alright?" M'gann asked referring to Ying who looked a little green around the metaphorical gills. He was lying down across one of the benches an arm over his face hand to his stomach holding his glasses.

None of the females missed the smirk the trio wore, Conner's face a mixture of amusement and disgust while Kaldur only shook his head.

"He ate seven hotdogs before going on a ride."

"Somehow," Raquel said looking between the three likely suspects. "I highly doubt that he did that on his own…You bet him didn't you?"

"Maybe."

Pointing behind him Artemis looked at the ride Wally was talking about and blanched. "And he did it?"

"He admitted he was afraid of heights or as he put it, didn't like the thought of the fall, so we tried to clear him of it."

"By making him puke his guts out?"

Wally shrugged nonchalantly before replying. "Guy thing."

"Yea. And you didn't talk them out of it?" Artemis asked looking to Kaldur who shrugged as well.

"He was not going to back down."

"I can't-" Artemis turned to head back over to the others.

Slowly sitting up and fixing his glasses back onto his face Ying glared at the males. "I hate you all," he said with no real conviction before standing. Taking the offered water bottle from M'gann he thanked the young woman before walking over to the edge of the pier downing some of the water to gargle and spitting over the railing.

"You could have said no," Robin yelled to him pretty sure that if they weren't around so many children and Sammy, he'd have flipped him the bird.

Walking back over Ying capped the water before taking Sammy's bag again.

"Close your eyes."

Reaching her hand into the bag Sammy's hand clasped onto something before retracting it. Opening her hand she was met with a bright yellow frog hairpin with orange eyes and a red bow right in the middle of its head.

"Thank you Ying!" Nearly chocking the male in a hug Sammy quickly placed the pin right at the band holding her hair back.

"You are welcome mini Hopper." Tossing the bag into the trash he took Sam's hand in his checking the time. "I need to get Sammy back to her grandfathers. If you guys want to stay longer then-"

"Naw we're gonna head back to the…back home," Roy corrected remembering that they were in the company of someone who did not know they fought crime.

"Alright. I'll walk you guys to the entrance."

Watching the exchange between the two Robin couldn't help but feel like there was a lot more to Ying then they had originally come to see. He cared a lot for the little girl beyond just it being a job of watching the little girl for her grandfather, his boss. There was a lot, however, that he was not telling them still.

Then again there was a lot that he wasn't telling the others as well. They all had been apparently which was not a bad thing. There was no way to know everything about a person, even the ones you spent most of your life with. It was just one of those things about life that would never change.

Lost in thought Robin had ran smack dab into someone nearly falling backwards. Righting himself he looked up, way up, to see a male in front of him.

"Oh excuse me."

The gentleman was tall, taller than Bruce that was for sure. He was built with olive skin, short jet black hair his sideburns trailing down connecting to his full beard and mustache, dark brown almost black eyes. He was wearing a light grey suit, pastel blue shirt underneath with dark blue gators. Raising an eyebrow at the males fashion sense Robin made to hurry to catch up with the rest of the team figuring they had gone straight when the male called out to him.

"Why the rush Richard?"

Stopping in his tracks the hairs on the back of Robins neck stood on edge as he turned back to face the male. Not saying a word he stared at him, particularly his face, trying to see if maybe at some point their paths had been crossed at school. It was a big campus after all but when no teacher came to mind Robin grew extremely wary.

"It has really been a long time. You don't remember me do you. You were just a little boy. Dorian." The male stuck out his hand to shake putting it back to his side when Robin made no move towards him.

Thinking back Robin narrowed his eyes behind dark shades. The Dorian that he knew had passed away some two three years ago at 103 years old. This male was far from that not even half a century years old. Maybe around 35.

"Kind of young to be 100 years old don't you think."

Chuckling Dorian smiled which to Robin was anything but inviting. "103 to be exact and yes. The Dorian you are thinking of was my grandfather. I'm the third. Never thought I'd see you again let alone here. I am deeply sorry to hear about your parents. They were good people."

Taking a small step back Robin could definitely say he did not like this situation. Something about the male was sending a serious red flag like he should remember something. "Yea, I kind of don't want to talk about that."

Dorian's smile grew a bit wider. "And who would?" Turning he leant against the banister looking out into the sound. "You see little bird-"

"Don't call me that," Robin cut through stopping the male from what he was saying. Only his mother was allowed to call him that, on occasions Wally and Roy but this stranger. No. "What do you want?"

Chuckling, not at all put off by the young males glare he turned to Robin. "I just wanted to talk catch up with you, get to know you. After all Richard. You are my nephew."

Taking another step backwards Robin couldn't believe his ears, or more like wouldn't. Did this man just say he was his nephew? This guy was clearly crazy. About to say as much he was cut off by a high pitched voice and a tug at the arm.

"There you are." Looking down Robin came eye to eye, so to speak to familiar brown eyes. "You're too short to be walking around alone," Sammy said giving Robin's hand another tug. Smiling at the older male she excused them both before turning around and pulling the male with her back to the group making sure to stay within eyesight of Ying who was not far off.

Meeting up with the gang Wally wrapped an arm around the younger male a smile on his face, albeit Robin could see it was forced. He was clearly worried.

"What was that about?"

"I don't know," Robin answered the male. Wally could get the underlying message, however, underneath the words and nodded his head. Whatever the male had said to the raven was clearly not something that could be shared with the others. Now he was completely curious as to what had gone down between the two not at all liking the way the male looked in the least. Pushing that aside for the moment the best he could do right now was act normal.

"Well then try not to get kidnapped. You're way too short to be walking around by yourself."

"I am not short!" Robin yelled causing some of the people around them to stop and stare. Glaring at them they quickly turned away to continue back to their own lives. The next person who called him short was getting it.

"Now that we're all not lost," Roy said his gaze clearly on his younger brother who opted to stick his tongue out at him. "We should head out." Taking a step further towards the exit Roy looked down when Sammy grabbed his hand in hers the other one firmly around Ying's.

Looking down he was hit with a large and bright smile before turning to Ying who just shrugged his shoulders. Narrowing his eyes Roy just had to grin and bear it. He was not used to children…Well…female children anyway.

"When we meet up again later tonight," Ying said breaking the short silence between the two, "there is something I have to tell you and the others. Personal. It is important."

Without a word Roy nodded his head in agreement before they continued on their way Sammy happily chatting for the both of them.

"Your shoes are untied Ying," Sammy chimed through, the topic before then completely lost upon the older males ears.

Looking down he saw that the little girl was in fact right.

"We'll tie it when we get out, how is that?"

"You're going to fall on your face," she stated in a matter of fact way.

"I will not."

"That's what you said last time."

That got the older male to shut up, a slight blush coating his cheeks obviously embarrassed. "Alright."

Letting the little girl tie his shoe as promised Ying complimented that she had definitely gotten better at it. Straightening up Roy could see Ying's face turn green once again. Obviously he was still not well from the rides.

"I'll catch up to you guys," Ying rushed out before making a bee-line for the nearest trash can.

Shrugging the grip Roy had on Sammy's hand tightened slightly before he scooped the little girl up into a piggy back jogging to catch up with the rest of the group.

"You've never done that with me before," Wally joked poking Roy in his side.

Shooting the male a look Roy smirked. "That's because she's not annoying."

"Where's Ying?" Conner asked looking back towards the crowd.

"Had to toss his cookies."

Looking to the little girl who had informed them Wally tied to stifle a laugh.

Continuing on their walk for a few more minutes they heard a familiar name called out through the crowd.

"Okiayu Ying-Xue."

Hearing the older males name called out in the crowd Robin, along with most of the group turned to see just who the voice belonged to.

They could see Ying had stopped not but a few meters from them mid step, he too, curious as to the person who called him.

A Caucasian male with curly brown hair and sharp blue eyes stood not too far from the group not but a few yards away from the male in question arms crossed over his chest. With a deep scowl on his face the male held gazes with Ying who had officially turned to face the stranger.

Robin had the same feeling he had on meeting Dorian. Something about this was not right. Not the only one to sense that, Roy, having swapped Sammy off to Raquel, was by his side in a second walking back towards Ying who had in that moment taken a step backwards away from the male.

There was a short exchange of words between the two before everything went to hell in a hand basket.

In a split second the strange male had pulled out a gun firing it at Ying multiple times before disappearing into the chaos that soon followed with people running from the sounds of the shots.

"Shit," Roy exclaimed running through the crowd to get to the fallen male.

With Raquel keeping Sammy back Zatanna, M'gann, and Conner had taken after the shooter leaving the other five to follow after the older redhead, Wally on his phone talking to 911.

Getting to the male within seconds it was not looking within his favor. He had been shot three times in the chest, one to the shoulder and another to the abdomen. With as much blood seeping through the wounds it was a wonder to Roy that he was still conscious let alone alive. Stripping off his jacket Roy applied pressure to the most serious of wounds keeping his eyes on Ying's face the male gasping for air, blood slowly trickling out the corner of his mouth.

Cursing underneath his breath as the blood continued to flow Roy nearly jumped when he heard a chocked sound come from the Asians mouth.

"Sa-sa-"

Clicking the syllable to what the male was trying to say Roy internally growled before answering the male. "She's alright Ying just shut-up." _Where the hell is that ambulance_, he thought as Robin and the others finally got over to them.

As if hearing the older redheads thoughts Wally was beside Roy kneeling on the ground. "They're on their way."

"Hold on friend." Kaldur clasped the male's hand, Artemis at his side.

Ying painstakingly moved his arm, slipping his hand out of Kaldur's grasp reaching up towards his neck.

"What the hell are you doing?" Roy growled out watching the male struggling for who knows what.

Reaching his neck Ying slowly pulled on a silver chain stopping when the motion became too much, he, coughing up blood.

Kaldur was the first to figure what the male was trying to do, taking Ying's hand in his before taking up the chain. At the end of it was a locket style pocket watch. Placing it in the male's hand he wasn't expecting for what was to come next.

Clasping the pocket watch in his hand Ying broke it off the chain holding it up to Kaldur, his hand shaking as he clearly fought against the pain and blood loss. Reaching over Kaldur clasped the males in both of his. "T-t-tell S-Sam th-thank y-you," he choked out, his hand dropping from Kaldur's. The male's eyes slowly slid shut son afterwards, head falling to the side. Ying's chest did not rise again.

_Oh hell no,_ Roy thought shaking the older male slightly. "Open your eyes dammit!"

Robin's heart sank into the pit of his stomach. "He's…He's not breathing." Placing two fingers to the males throat Robin tried checking for a pulse his eyes narrowing before moving them to his wrist. _Nothing._ "His heart's stopped."

The sound of sirens hit their ears in the distance. Not too far off they could hear a little girl crying for the male who lay lifeless on the ground. A male who was not going to be answering her call.

End Chapter

Next up on **Effects of Black and White**….Not even I know. Who the heck is Dorian and what are his true motives for reaching out to Robin? Is the guy really his uncle or something more? Will GraNNIeShufflez03 keep Ying dead or not? Why was he shot in the first place? Stay tuned to find out.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer…Other than original character(s) I do not own Young Justice. Would love to…but life and loans is hindering me from committing such a joyous act. **

**To TimeXgone23- You know you love me and we had this discussion earlier. lol. So there's nothing to be said but HA! lol. XD But this is for you.  
><strong>

**A:N- WARNING/View Discretion is advised- Cursing and all that good jazz.**

**Thank you for reading everybuggy. XD**

**-X-  
><strong>

_Clasping the pocket watch in his hand Ying broke it off the chain holding it up to Kaldur, his hand shaking as he clearly fought against the pain and blood loss. Reaching over Kaldur clasped the males in both of his. "T-t-tell S-Sam th-thank y-you," he choked out, his hand dropping from Kaldur's. The male's eyes slowly slid shut son afterwards, head falling to the side. Ying's chest did not rise again._

_Oh hell no, Roy thought shaking the older male slightly. "Open your eyes dammit!" _

_Robin's heart sank into the pit of his stomach. "He's…He's not breathing." Placing two fingers to the males throat Robin tried checking for a pulse his eyes narrowing before moving them to his wrist. Nothing. "His heart's stopped."_

_The sound of sirens hit their ears in the distance. Not too far off they could hear a little girl crying for the male who lay lifeless on the ground. A male who was not going to be answering her call. _

_**-x-**  
><em>

_****Saturday continued**  
><strong>_

"Oh fuck this," Roy exclaimed directing Wally to keep pressure on the wounds regardless of the male not breathing. He'd be damned if someone was going to just up and die with him right there, no matter how annoying and secretive that person may have been. "I'm going to do compressions, Kaldur can you?"

Disregarding the fact that some people had now gathered around them the Atlantean nodded his head. At the most he could keep the rod hidden in his hand.

Roy had already gone through the process of ripping the male's shirt open wincing at all the blood coating the males chest and his hands. It would take a while to get all of that off.

Going back and forth between compressions and shocking the male what felt like minutes to them felt like hours to the speedster as they tried to bring Ying back. After Kent Nelson he couldn't stand to see another person die right before him. Hearing the little girl still crying and calling out to the male was all the more of a reason to try and save him if nothing else.

Three shocks later and there was a short sigh of relief as Ying was once again breathing, if you could call strangled gasps and wheezing breathing. By now the paramedics had arrived _and where were the police through all of this? _Wally asked himself giving a quick glance around. _And they wondered why they had costumed hero's, even those without powers, running around their city. Because they couldn't show up to a damn crime scene on time. _

Two paramedics came rushing out of the vehicle, an older woman and young male, no more than maybe 30 years old. Both had deep frown lines on seeing the state of the male they would have to treat and try to keep alive through the transport to the hospital.

"Good work guy's we'll take it from here," the older of the EMT's said gently pushing Robin and Wally to the side, the other doing so for Kaldur and Artemis and Roy. "We'll take it from here."

"What's his name?"

"Ying-Xue," Roy supplied hoping the male had brought his actual I.D and not one of the possible many fakes he had.

"Hey Ying-Xue," the EMT called getting the male to open his eyes a fraction working on getting him hooked up to an IV assessing his wounds. "I'm going to need you to stay awake as long as possible can you do that for me. Blink twice if you understand what I'm saying." It was slow but the response was there. "Alright now-"

While the older EMT was taking care of Ying the younger had turned to Roy. "Do any of you know if he's allergic to anything, any medicines he may be taking."

"No. The little girl Sammy might but-" Roy cut himself off not knowing if it would be right for them to talk to the little girl. She was only seven at the most and after what she had seen. He doubted she'd want to talk to anyone, let alone be able to.

"That her right there?" The male asked nodding over to Raquel who was hugging the little girl as she sobbed into her shoulder.

Kaldur nodded his head answering the question for Roy.

"Family?"

"None here. She's his bosses granddaughter."

Thanking Kaldur the male walked over to the two females. "Hey Sweetie," the EMT said kneeling down in front of the crying child. He hated talking to children involved in shootings. But with no adults in sight who knew the male and the teenagers saying she was the closest of them to him, he had to. "My name is Jake. Can you tell me your name?"

"Sa-Sammy Carlyle," Sammy choked out through the tears. To her credit she was trying to stop the tears to talk to the older male.

"You're being really brave right now Sammy. I need you to answer a few questions for me okay?" His question was answered with a nod. "Do you know if Ying-Xue is allergic to anything?"

"He-He doesn't eat peanuts. They make his face all puffy," said through a few sniffles she had managed to get her eyes to stop leaking.

"Thank you sweetie you're being very helpful. Now one more question okay?" Getting a nod Jake continued. "Do you know if he's taking any medication?" A shake of the head was his answer. "Okay Sammy you've been a really great help. You're a brave young woman did you know that?"

Nodding her head Jake gave her arm a light squeeze before standing. "Wait!" Turning around Jake looked back down into large watery eyes. "He's going to be okay right?"

Heart sinking Jake looked off to his partner who was doing her best to stabilize the male before turning back to the little girl. The police had finally arrived and were off to the side talking with Robin, Wally and Artemis, Kaldur and Roy still with Heather, the female EMT. By now the others had returned standing off with the cops as well, the look Conner had saying everything to Raquel. They had not caught the male. "We'll do everything we can for him okay."

Shooting Sammy a small smile Jake shared a quick look with Raquel before heading back over to his partner and Ying. Relaying the information to the older woman she said nothing as her attention was mostly on keeping the male before her alive, he going in and out of consciousness. Stabilized enough for the ride she shot off exactly what hospital they were going to take the male before ordering one of the cops to help her and Jake transport the male onto the gurney.

The ambulance doors slammed shut, sirens and lights blazing before it took off to the hospital.

Today was definitely going to be a very long day.

**5:23 p.m.**

After talking with the police each giving their own statement and Sammy's mother coming down to get her daughter Roy had headed off to the hospital informing the team that he'd go and keep an eye in their teammate. It wouldn't make sense for all of them to clutter the medical facility wandering around like zombies until news, either good or bad was issued. That and after what they had all just seen, they needed to collect themselves.

On the way over he had informed Black Canary of what had happened. She would stay with the team and keep an eye on them until their mentors where available then head over to the hospital herself. That would give him the time and chance to piece together what was currently running through his mind.

He had taken a ride to the hospital with one of the officers giving yet another statement on the way there. He felt like the information that he had wasn't enough. That it wouldn't be enough. Not to catch the creep who shot the older male right in front of him and other innocent bystanders. Roy couldn't even be sure that what they had done was enough to keep the male alive on the few mile trip to the nearest hospital. Looking down at his hands he glowered. There was so much blood.

Having made it to the hospital and thanking the officer Roy had made his first stop to the emergency wing to at least get anything from a doctor about Ying. With no luck, him not being family and all he ignored the looks from families and doctors before making his way to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

Trying to get the blood off his hands Roy could not take his mind off of what had happened not an hour ago. Well more on the whys versus the what. He was there after all. Never before had he seen the male with the gun before, his suspicions of Ying growing due to the circumstances and something else. The redhead was sure he wasn't the only one to have noticed but kept quiet at the time for the little girl's sake.

There had been two tattoos splayed on the left side of the male's chest. One symbol was that of a demon mask Japanese in nature almost looking like a lion. Shadow Oni, the name of the unfamiliar organization flitted through his mind from the descriptions given by MeiLi's diary. The other, however he knew to be Jade Sun. Knowing it hard to work for two organizations especially when they were at war with one another, under his understanding, there was definitely something off with it.

"_When we meet up again later tonight," Ying said breaking the short silence between the two, "there is something I have to tell you and the others. Personal. It is important."_

Roy dried his hands on a paper towel tossing it into the trash. What could the male have wanted to tell them. With his soon to be confession and untimely shooting, could they have been related? What about the male whom was talking to Dick not but a few minutes before hand. Was this to get at the younger male?

"Very good," a male voice sounded behind Roy. Whirling around he was about to say something when he was slammed against the wall a hand wrapped around his throat. Instinct kicking in Roy made to kick the male away from him to break the hold panic rising when he couldn't move.

"None of that Mr. Harper. Or should I say Red Arrow?"

"The hell do you want?" Roy growled out realizing that the male before him was Dorian. "You go anywhere near my friend and I'll-"

"You'll what?" Dorian asked cutting the male off tightening his grip just a little. "Kick my ass? Kill me? I believe we both know the outcome of what would be. No. I simply want to help Richard."

_Help Dick? Who they hell is this lunatic? _Trying to get out of the males hold one more time or at least call out to M'gann, he was still trying to figure out how the link worked Roy was beginning to realize it was futile. He was stuck listening to this male. Truth be told he wanted to know about Ying…But he'd rather hear it from the horses mouth.

"Horses tend to lie you know," Dorian said with a smirk chuckling at the dark look Roy was sending him. "You see that boy who was with you is not who he says he is." Pausing for dramatic effect leant in closer to his captive. "He's an assassin from the Shadow Oni. Real name is Rentetsu Uma. I'll let you translate. If you didn't know they massacred an entire family many many years ago in one of the biggest cover-ups in history."

When Dorian didn't get a reply from the redhead he took that as a positive sign to continue.

"He was hired out by the Jade Sun and sent here to find the Eight Whispering Souls, and if need be, kill one of the last guardian heirs…Your friend and my nephew."

"Your…"

"As it were I'm his half uncle but that's all details." Smirking again Dorian let go his hold on Roy's throat, however, the male could still not move. "You don't have to," he said in reply to Roy's thoughts. "It'll make sense soon enough."

Narrowing his eyes, one of the few things he could still do Roy kept his eyes on the male as he walked back and forth in a slow pace across the bathroom floor. "If he's here to kill Dick then why hasn't he?"

"The Shadow Oni are like animals," Dorian supplied the male stopping in his tracks. "They play with their food so to speak before they eat and anyway he hasn't been ordered to…yet." On seeing the unconvinced look flashing through the redheads eyes Dorian stepped back towards him. "Still don't believe me you should ask his boss. He was seconds away from killing the man who's granddaughter he was watching today. They are amazing at infiltration and even better actors."

"So what would you have me do?"

"Kill him before he kills Richard of course."

"You're sick."

Smirking Dorian stopped just in front of Roy. "If you don't then I'll finish the job myself."

"You…He doesn't even know who Dick really is."

"Does he not? Think about it," Dorian said resuming his pacing. To Roy it was cannon to a tiger stalking its prey. "He comes to the League with a mission about something that ultimately deals with Little Richie's background. Seemingly from nowhere…All of this knowledge he has about them. I'm sure he's spewed onto you, the I can't tell you speech. Then to get closer to you all, to him, he invites you to a carnival just to show you that he's not this heartless and callous person, that he can be trusted."

"And so you show up now because you're a caring person. Finally thought it would be nice to show your nephew an ounce of care…if he even is."

"It was to expose those three traitorous organizations for the impure acts they've committed for hundreds of years. And for the death of my brother and sister in law."

At this Roy's eyes widened a fraction. _What?_

"Oh he didn't tell you that either did he? Don't worry I'll let you figure that one out too."

"If you hate him so much why not have killed him before?" Roy asked delving into another topic. This guy was laying too much on him to handle alone. Maybe it would have been better to have at least asked Kaldur to go with him.

"Oh I've tried, believe me I have. I didn't realize that he would have such a strong will to live, though I don't see why. He is after all just another dog they will put out to pasture at some time in the near future or another." Sharp eyes focused back on Roy's. "Or maybe I didn't kill him to see how loyal of a friend you are. Take out a threat to your friend, your brother." Patting Roy on the shoulder Dorian walked to the door. "I'll give you three days for an answer. Hopefully you make the right one."

The minute he disappeared Roy got the feeling back within his limbs. Rushing to the door and out the bathroom he was met with a relatively empty hallway, no Dorian in sight. He would definitely need to talk to the league about this one but in the meantime there was someone he needed to have a few words with.

Walking down the hallway Roy turned a few corners bi-passing doctors and nurses as the hurried to their patients. Coming to a small waiting area Roy took a deep breath before pushing the doors open stepping inside.

Not having met the male outside of hero duties it didn't take Roy long to figure the grey haired male to be Lee Travis. The older male was sitting stoically in one of the hard plastic, and quite uncomfortable chairs. His black fedora placed in his lap Roy could tell he was anything but calm as the grip he had on his cane was sure to be leaving nail prints in the pressure treated wood. Resigning himself for the talk at hand he walked up to the male introducing himself.

Roy had to school himself to not take a step back. The older males eyes were blazing with held back rage and anger, no doubt towards the person who put his partner and employee in the hospital along with hope and sorrow. He was clearly reeling from the news of his partner's condition.

It was just him now out of the little family that had been there earlier, Fiore having taken likely taken off with her children back home per request of the older male.

Roy found himself hoping that Sammy would be okay. The little girl had by far gone through enough that day.

"Mr. Travis?"

Sharp eyes met blue. "Do forgive an old man but have we met before young man?" His voice was gruff with mixed emotions, Roy not blaming the male in the least. He wouldn't know what he'd do if that were Oliver in there, no matter how often they fought.

"No we haven't sir," Roy answered back taking a seat next to the male. The hallway was relatively empty save for one woman sleeping, stretched out in two chairs. "I know Ying from…work."

"Ah I see," Lee nodded in understanding. "I presume you were there when he was shot. What would you like to know."

Taken aback for a moment Roy was not expecting that. "Sir…I need to know which side he's on."

"I believe the work he's done for you and the others should be enough of an answer." At any other time Roy would have retorted back at the bite Lee had in his voice. This was not the time especially when dealing with a worried person.

Schooling himself Roy pressed further. "He's Shadow Oni."

"Yes. He is." There was no hesitation in that answer not even a pause at why the male would have asked. Roy had to look away for a moment as the males eyes bore through his.

"Is Ying-Xue his real name?"

"What is in a name, that which we call a rose" the male absently repeated from one of Shakespeare's greatest works ( if you go for that kind of stuff.)…"The boy's gone by many names young man," Lee said fiddling with the hem on his fedora. "Under the doctrine of his family, the Shadow Oni if you will, he is called Rentetsu Uma, Wrought iron Horse. You will find legally, however, his birth name is in fact Ying-Xue. Does that answer your question?"

Not answering the male, although Roy found it satisfactory he kept pushing. Call him callous for not feeling sympathetic to the male but his little brothers life could very well be on the line. "Why the Jade Sun marking?" Roy wasn't stupid to believe that someone hired out for an organization would turn their back on them for another cause especially of it meant death. The male clearly had some form of twisted death wish but he wasn't that messed up in the head to double cross one of the most dangerous organizations in the world…Or was he?

Sighing Lee cracked his neck before taking a weathered hand to rub at the spot, no doubt stiff from sitting in the chair for so long. "Long story short son. You mark distant family so you don't potentially kill them. Especially when they can be of use to you later."

_He's related to them?_ "So he was hired out by them to find the items?"

"You don't tell a jackdaw to go out and find shinny trinkets," Lee answered turning his gaze to the wall before him.

Catching the hint Roy decided to take another route. "So you trust him after he tried to kill you?"

"There something you're not telling me son?" He neither denied the statement nor did he confirm it. In any case Roy would take that as a positive and keep moving.

"Ying told me before he got shot that he wanted to tell me and the others something personal. Now that he's…If it was important we need to know."

Turning his gaze back upon the younger male it was a long time that Roy had felt small under someone else's gaze. "And you expect me to know what's going on in that idiots head?"

Taken aback once again this time by the cutting insult to his partner who could potentially die, again, Roy opened his mouth and spoke. "He's your partner."

"And yet I am no mind reader." Shaking his head Lee sighed once again adjusting his hold on his cane leaning it against the wall. "I'm getting up there in years young man," Lee said leaning further back into his seat. "I've seen a lot and done a lot in a span of 50 sum odd years. Met a lot of dishonest people, met some who were not so dishonest. Not many who were truly genuine in their feelings. Till I met that young man. He's confusing, confused, irrational, irritating, and naïve, a downright idiotic buffoon with no accurate sense of self-worth or how to interact with people. But past all of that, he cares greatly about the well-being of others, he's selfless, iron willed and will stop at nothing to see that people get the justice they deserve."

"Whatever you heard about Ying, some of it may be true, most of it is false. For four years I've seen this male grow from a robot that just took orders at face value to someone who could think for himself and make his own decisions. Life is not easy for any of us and for most of us it can lead to places you would never wish on another. When he gets through this you should talk with him. He is not defined by those markings nor by his pat actions."

About to open his mouth Roy was cut off by a doctor strolling down the hallway looking rather worn and tired. Stopping just before the older male she asked him "Lee Travis?"

"Present Dr. Gonzalez." Taking up his cane and with the help of Roy he stood walking off with the doctor to get some privacy on the male's condition.

Opening a folder Dr. Gonzales looked at her notes before returning her attention to the older male. "I am not going to lie to you sir-"

"I wouldn't ask you to ma'am."

Sighing she schooled herself for any reaction Travis may have. If need be with his age she might have to have him admitted as well. "We lost him twice on the table before the operation began and during, but something or someone is keeping him here. We managed to get him stable again but only managed to extract two of the bullets, the one to his abdomen and shoulder. The other two are just too close to his heart to do any more at the moment. We're going to wait a little while before going back in, due a few more blood transfusions. He's on a tube right now, not breathing on his own. Due to the quick actions of that young man and his friends," Dr. Gonzalez directed to Roy behind her, "he has more of a fighting chance and isn't showing any signs of brain damage."

Nodding in understanding Lee thanked the doctor talking to her for a little while longer before resuming his seat. He never did ask what Ying's chances were at surviving. If he pulled through the night then his chances were higher, that he knew, but to have literally died three times. Sighing Lee pinched the area between his eyes in exasperation. He was far too old for this.

Being around Ying was never a dull moment. "Still here young man?" Lee asked not turning to Roy. He had known the male had never left, giving him breathing room to talk to the doctors instead. "You should know its touch and go at the moment but I have faith he'll pull through."

"You have a lot of faith in him."

"Once you get past his irritatingly annoying and oblivious exterior it's not hard to. Thank you," he added after a moment. "Doctor Gonzalez just informed me that you and your friends saved him. Thank you."

About to wave off the gratitude Roy this time opted to keep his mouth shut just nodding his head. "I'm sure he would have done the same for any of us." Roy somewhat found that statement to be true no matter if they hadn't been in a situation to call for it. Of which he was grateful for himself.

"The guy who shot him," Lee said keeping his gaze fixated on the wall before him. Roy could now tell that as a sign of the male trying to reign in his emotions. "Did he say anything to him?"

"We weren't close enough to hear," Roy said not knowing whether he should tell the older male of his encounter with Dorian or not. About what he told him to do, about what he said the males intentions were. Out of everyone he did have a right to know. "You should watch him for the next few days."

The older males gaze fell on Roy once again. Feeling like he was being picked apart Roy kept his own gaze to the double doors where the doctor had entered not too long ago and exited. "It's not just what I'm thinking is it?"

Keeping up to his name as a great detective, to those who actually knew the male Lee had picked up on fairly quickly to what Roy was implying.

"You should be careful," Roy said as an answer.

"Son," Lee said with a slight humorless chuckle. "If I was ever careful in life I wouldn't be sitting here talking with you today."

Not knowing if that was directed to the males own life or Ying the redhead remained silent. He had gotten some answers, direct, out of the male. It wasn't much but it would do. He'd have to inform the League about what had went down with the man named Dorian and talk to Dick, his two main priorities. But in the mean time he'd sit and wait with Lee till his daughter came back. No one should wait for news alone.

**-X-**

**Meanwhile in China**

"That bastard!" A loud crash sounded through the thick wooden doors. Wincing at his perfect timing Dante knocked on the door regardless knowing whether he did or not he'd have to face the woman some time. Now would probably be better. Oddly enough she was more docile the first few minutes of being pissed off.

Not waiting for her to respond Dante opened the door first noting the red stain of wine on the wall. That was not going to come out easily he thought as the liquid dribbled onto the white carpet. And he just had those cleaned. Clear glass was on the floor so she at least thrown the glass and not the actual bottle of wine…One of his more expensive bottles…Not that he'd mind or tell her that. "My lady?"

Whirling on the male who had entered her room Lady Lei's dark brown eyes bore into her subordinates. He'd seen just about every facial expression known to man written across her normally calculated calm features. This, this expression was a first. "Get my jet fueled and ready to go within the hour!" Lady Lei said downing some of the red liquid straight from the bottle slamming the glass on the table.

Blinking from the TV screen stationed on American news…_Shooting in the City_, to the enraged woman before him Dante nodded his head before excusing himself. Making the call to prepare the jet as requested Dante made another quick one this time to Kaito. He'd rather call him now than have Lady Lei do it. With her in a temper and Kaito's…less than professional mannerisms, now was not the time.

Apparently it wasn't the time for many things, he thought taking out the dagger he had concealed in his waistband. Holding it up to the light he couldn't get enough of how it gleamed so brilliantly against even the artificial light from the ceiling. Loving every second of how the dragons seemed to dance as he inspected the hilt, the black onyx reminding him so much of a distant memory.

Shrugging he placed the dagger back into his waistband a twisted smirk pulling onto his lips. He may just get that revenge he'd been hoping for sooner rather than later. Oh how he loved when people signed their own death warrants.

"What's ones lost love to another?" Kaito sang walking down the hallway.

End Chapter

**So, I didn't really kill Ying…yet? Chalk it up to my love of Soap Operas. ::Sigh::. Had a fan girl moment in the mall with my boyfriend a few days ago seeing ****Maurice Benard from General Hospital. He is WAY more sexy in person. ::Sighs yet again.::**

**Haven't seen Dante and Kaito in quite a while. Batman's been M.I.A for a while too. Don't worry we'll be reuniting you all with them shortly within the next few chapters. **

**Next on Effects of Black and White**

**Next up the teams reactions to the shooting. More Rob, Wally and Roy bonding. Much needed. There's a lot that needs to be covered so bear with me people. **

**Oh and trust me, things are going to get a lot more twisted than they are now. I have that math equation stuck in my head. ****If one train leave the station traveling at 30 mph and another train leaves a half hour later traveling at 50 mph, when will they meet?...In this case it's how hard do they impact? (cue evil laughter) XD****. **

**Someone has some splaining to do! **

**P.S-I did notice I left out Wally and Artemis's lunch last chapter. I'm going to post that as a standalone later. **


	21. Chapter 21

**So it has been a long time since I updated. My muse was on an un-authorized vacation. Seeing as such I have promptly fired them bumping up my temp to full time position. Hopefully they work harder. **

**Timexgone23 has kindly taken it upon their greatness to inform me it was wrong of me to leave chapter 19 like I did. It's now chapter 21 and in all honesty…I'm feeling that to correct my ways…I'm a do it again. XD…Maybe…I personally don't want to get killed so…**

**Slightly working on a new fic but right now this one takes full priority over everything else. With this one a few, maybe more than a few, chapters into its closing I may look into writing a sequel but nothing definite on that. Depends on how I end this one. **

**Thank you all for sticking with me.  
><strong>

**Thanks and as always Enjoy. XD**

_**Last time on Effects of Black and White**_

"_The guy who shot him," Lee said keeping his gaze fixated on the wall before him. Roy could now tell that as a sign of the male trying to reign in his emotions. "Did he say anything to him?"_

"_We weren't close enough to hear," Roy said not knowing whether he should tell the older male of his encounter with Dorian or not. About what he told him to do, about what he said the males intentions were. Out of everyone he did have a right to know. "You should watch him for the next few days."_

_The older males gaze fell on Roy once again. Feeling like he was being picked apart Roy kept his own gaze to the double doors where the doctor had entered not too long ago and exited. "It's not just what I'm thinking is it?"_

_Keeping up to his name as a great detective, to those who actually knew the male Lee had picked up on fairly quickly to what Roy was implying. _

"_You should be careful," Roy said as an answer. _

"_Son," Lee said with a slight humorless chuckle. "If I was ever careful in life I wouldn't be sitting here talking with you today."_

_Not knowing if that was directed to the males own life or Ying the redhead remained silent. He had gotten some answers, direct, out of the male. It wasn't much but it would do. He'd have to inform the League about what had went down with the man named Dorian and talk to Dick, his two main priorities. But in the mean time he'd sit and wait with Lee till his daughter came back. No one should wait for news alone. _

**Saturday Continued**

**-X-**

It was quiet. The ticking of the clock was the only thing that was heard throughout the mountain as eight teens sat around the living room their thoughts running amuck. No doubt the events of the day playing through their heads like a mini movie on replay.

"Roy's at the hospital now with Crim-Lee Travis," Black Canary said on entering the room, sitting on the arm of the three sitter. It didn't take a detective, rocket scientist or even a therapist to see that the teenagers were going through a lot their expressions all morose and with very good reason. Seeing someone get shot at nearly point blank range was one thing, knowing the person at some personal level was completely different. They had been working with Ying for nearly two months now and although they hadn't been on good terms on day one she could tell they all had grown to have some association with the older male.

Normally she would talk to them separately to help them come to terms with what they had just witnessed. At this point and time, however, it didn't look like they should be separated from one another let alone would. M'gann had taken up residence on the love seat with Conner her hand intertwined with the junior boy of steels. Surprisingly or maybe not Zatanna, Robin, Wally, and Artemis had managed to fit themselves on the sofa together in that order.

_When did this happen_, she asked herself looking finally to Kaldur and Raquel who was sitting in the Atlantean's normal seat, he in turn sitting on the arm of the chair. Normally she would say something but left it alone for the day.

"We could have caught him." Zatanna was the first to break through the silence that had set heavily in the room for the past hour. While a few of the gazes had left their respective places around the room hers had stayed transfixed on the off television.

"But we didn't," Conner growled out saying what the others in the room didn't want to voice. Couldn't voice. They were hero's, supposed to save people and stop bad things from happening to others. But they hadn't. They had failed. And now because of that someone they knew was fighting for their life if it wasn't lost already do to some not so random shooter.

He wasn't there with Robin and the others keeping an eye on Ying but to be told that he had, for a few minutes, died…It made the boy of steel realize just how vulnerable the others were. Just how vulnerable they all were. The realization dawning on him Conner held M'gann's hand all the more tighter in his grasp feeling her squeeze his back.

It was a start, Black Canary thought looking from the two teens whom had broken the stale air. It was minutes later before anyone else spoke, this time being Artemis.

"It's not like we could simply go league on him or anything. There were way too many people."

"It's better than doing nothing," Raquel shot out her tone harsh.

Artemis snapped her head up to look at the pierced female her gaze hard as ever. "And we didn't do just nothing," Artemis shot back. "If you hadn't noticed Ying stopped breathing and if it weren't for Kaldur shocking him he'd be dead. If any of the bi-standers were paying closer attention they could have made him out for Aqualad and where do you think that would have left everyone else?"

"So someone's life isn't worth saving if it means possibly outing yourself?"

"Guy's," M'gann cut through trying to stop the two from arguing further.

Neither was listening, however, as Artemis continued her full attention on the Rocket."That's not what I'm saying and you know it."

"We should have done more."

"Then you feel that way why didn't you go after him?"

"Guy's," M'gann tried again still to no avail.

"I was with Sammy or had you forgotten that little girl didn't need to see her friend on the ground bleeding to death. I'm not as heartless as some people."

"What's that supposed to mean."

"Just that Roy and Kaldur had everything under control. One of you could have helped Conner and the others."

"So this is my fault?"

"Guy's please."

About to speak out to aid his girlfriend in stopping the two females from escalating Conner was cut off.

"It is no one's fault," Kaldur broke through the impending argument quieting Raquel and Artemis. "We were all unprepared. We will use this as a learning experience so that something like this does not happen again."

"We are going to use someone dying as a learning experience?"

"Ying's still alive," Wally said his voice carrying over the impending fight between any of the other team members. With tensions high they didn't need to be fighting one another. This was no time for petty squabbling. "If you don't remember we already had someone die on us. Twice now." _Kent Nelson_, Wally thought remembering that faithful day. He had been virtually by himself when the man passed away not knowing what to do at the time. No matter how many times he had played out the scenarios he could find no way of protecting let alone saving the older male from his impending doom.

Then recently both Zatanna and Raquel had witnessed a gang member from the Eastern Snow Leopards killed in cold blood. None of the others were there let alone knew exactly what had went down that day. It didn't take long to learn, however, that with Raquel's strong sense of justice she'd do anything she could to make sure he had gotten his justice all the same. Was that what the female was so angry about? That she had done nothing the first time and now it had nearly repeated itself just weeks after.

"It wasn't your fault you know that right?"

Wally looked down to see Robin's gaze fixed on the dark skinned female. Apparently he too had worked it out. He'd expect nothing less form a bat.

"What do you mean? Of course it wasn't."

"I'm talking about that mission in China."

Raquel opened her mouth only to close it turning her gaze away from the others.

Watching the exchange quietly, Black Canary was glad that they had managed to conduct and move the conversation by themselves without her interfering. They were growing up.

"It happened so fast," she finally spoke up gaze still set on the wall. "We could have done something. I could have done something." Feeling a hand on her shoulder Raquel finally looked up her dark brown eyes meeting light grey.

"You did what you could, given the situation. Both times. In this line of work we are bound to lose someone, Wally is right. But even so we should not lose ourselves over that fact but keep moving."

This time had been virtually different. They were around enough people to make a difference yet they had lost the male for a few minutes. But they hadn't failed, he was alive and fighting. With that knowledge Raquel nodded her head before turning to the blonde sitting next to Wally.

"I'm sorry Artemis. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"Don't worry about it," Artemis said waving away the apology. She wasn't even mad anymore having enough time to figure out exactly were the females hostility was coming from. Normally she'd have bitten Raquel's head off just as quick but being around Wally and M'gann for so long (something about red-heads) she had calmed down in record time.

"So it's not a matter of making sure it doesn't happen again, because with our line of work it will… It's to protect the people that we can. When we can, how we can. We may not have been able to stop it from happening. But he's fighting right now because we did what we could."

All eyes were on the Atlantean as he spoke, his gaze wandering from teammate to teammate. They would make sure of it.

Nodding her head in acceptance, _They don't need me here after all_. Black Canary stood up informing the Young Justice that their mentors would be over soon to pick them up. She would wait for Roy's call before heading over to the hospital. This matter was definitely bigger than just Crimson and Ying.

**-X-**

**Robin**

Dick sat at the edge of his bed staring at the necklace dangling from its chain. Running his thumb over the dragon up to the phoenix his mind was far from the piece of jewelry that may have belonged to his mother. (Denial isn't just the longest river in Egypt). Split between replaying the events of just a few hours ago, the mysterious showing of the male Dorian, his uncle so he claimed, and Ying shooting. Were they linked together? That thought had been entertained since they had first arrived at the mountain. What else could explain what was going on?

Dorian. He had never met the male before till today and even so, the Dorian from the circus hadn't even mentioned a son. Or rather his parents had never mentioned the creepy old man of having a child whether male or female. Looking back on into the memory the male held resemblance's to the Dorian that he was familiar with. Could it be true and exactly how where they related? This was just not making any sense.

Then to top it off what should have been a good day turned completely disastrous as their team mate, dare he even say friend he was still iffy on that term with the older male, ended with the male almost getting killed. It could very well have been something completely unrelated to everything that was going on, Ying had a past before he met them. Before he came to America...But if it were that serious would he have walked around so unprotected? So out in the open? He sure wouldn't but then again. Ying had very strange habits even for him.

What about the pocket watch he had around his neck? He had given it to Kaldur before he...passed for the short time he did. Had he known he was going to...Madame Vrosh...she had shown them all, he assumed, a bit of their future before they had left...It was possible but then again...he was just fishing.

Dick was knocked from his thoughts by a light rapping on his door. Thinking it was Alfred he held no hesitation telling the older male he could come in. Dick was not expecting it to be Bruce what so ever. They had hardly talked since the blow up weeks ago, surely what happened today wasn't much to warrant a visit. Raised eyebrows asked as much as the young raven sat quietly on his bed watching as for one of the first times Bruce, not Batman, but Bruce stood awkwardly at his open door.

"I did say it was okay for you to come in," Dick spoke watching the older male come to himself walking the rest of the way into the room. Sitting next to his ward Robin caught sight of a small yet thick book in Bruce's large hands. "What's that?"

"A book," the male answered in his usual gruff tone.

"You think Sherlock," Dick answered back. Okay it may not have been the best thing to say but really if he was going to act this weird then they didn't need to have whatever conversation Bruce was planning.

The young raven was met with a pointed look. _No glare?_ Dick asked himself. _Okay…This is serious_. "What's up Bruce?"

"Can't I talk to my s-partner without having a reason?"

Shrugging Dick turned his head a bit to the side hiding his facial expression just a bit. Had Bruce just almost called him his son? He had seen the older male as a father figure, maybe not his own father but a figure none the less.

Turning back to the older male hoping his features hadn't betrayed him, Dick looked down once again to the book Bruce now had on his lap. "So. You came to show me that? What's in it?"

Not saying a word Bruce opened the book to reveal two black and white photos one on each page. The first was of a young woman with light hair, probably blonde, holding a dark haired baby a large smile on her face. Seated in a chair it was clear that she was well off, a beautiful pearl necklace around her neck, she wearing a, what would have been at the time, designer dress.

"Is this you and your mom?" The question went unanswered but truthfully Dick was not looking for an answer. He had seen the picture of Bruce's parents before, it was in the oversized study including a few other rooms but this was the first time he had seen these pictures. 'Looking to the one on the next page he could tell it had been taken the same day as the first.

Baby Bruce, he had to stifle a laugh from thinking that, was in the picture just like the first but instead of his mother it was presumably his father as the male had extremely dark hair, a neat and trimmed mustache. He wore an expensive looking suit and what Dick could make out as an expensive watch. Apparently his family had money for longer than Bruce was old. Looking at the pictures, studying them rather Dick's blue eyes traveled up to his partner/father figure.

"You look like your father…But have your mothers smile, when you do smile," Dick threw in chuckling softly when Bruce nudged him with his elbow. Thinking about what Wally had said to him once they had found the pictures those few weeks ago. The thing that started the small pinwheel. "Didn't know we were so alike."

Noting the raised eyebrows Dick motioned for him to wait before getting up. Reaching into his bag that he had left relatively packed from Roy's house Dick rummaged through it before pulling out a folder which was relatively unbent, how Bruce didn't even know.

Plopping back down next to the male Dick opened the folder taking out the first picture handing it to Bruce. It was the one of his mother and father near the tree. Looking at it Bruce turned back to his ward before looking at the photo. "I guess you're right."

"So…You didn't know what was in those boxes…Did you?"

"It wasn't my place to look. I had my suspicions when I picked everything up."

"Oh…"

"Dick, look." Bruce turned himself more to face the younger male. He never really had heart to hearts with other people…He was the G-Damn Batman after all. But Richard was young and growing up a lot faster than he would have thought let alone liked to have admitted. "Things got out of hand a few days ago. I didn't handle it like I should have. You're not going to understand or even agree with everything that I do. You are growing up and I need to treat you like the young adult that you are turning into."

An indirect somewhat apology from the Prince of Darkness himself? Dick would take it and run. "I'm not going to understand. But I'm not mad at you anymore either," Dick said throwing the older male a genuine smile. No sneaky intensions behind this one.

Nodding his head Bruce continued going through the rest of the pictures with his ward Dick following suit soon after. They sat in his room for what felt like hours actually talking sharing stories of when they were kids…well…when their parents were alive. It was eerie how alike they were when Bruce was younger.

"If you have anything you want to talk about," Bruce said leaving the rest of the statement open as he made his way to the door. He had left his photo album with Dick knowing it to be in good hands. Making it to the threshold Bruce was stopped by a mischievous voice.

"Does that mean I can start driving the Batmobile now?"

"Don't push your luck."

"Wouldn't dream of it…Pops."

Raising a brow Bruce stared at the smiling male for a few seconds before turning on his heels. "Dinners in 30…Son.

**-X-**

**Wally**

"How you holding up kid?"

Looking up from his six decker sub Wally was met with his uncle walking into the kitchen. Green orbs continued to travel with the male till he sat down next to the younger speedster his chair partially turned towards the redhead. In silence Wally slid his plate over to the blonde allowing him to grab half the uneaten sandwich before placing it back in front of him.

"Alright I guess," he managed to get out poking at his sandwich. He knew that his lack of appetite at the moment spoke more than his words could ever.

"I guess," Barry repeated the last two words getting a napkin from the holder in the middle of the table before placing it down. There was no need for him to get his head unnecessarily bitten off by Iris today.

"I heard what happened at the fair today."

"You talk to Roy?"

"No. Black Canary. She's down there now with Lee."

Nodding his head Wally stopped poking his sub for picking at it taking bits of lettuce out chewing it slowly. "Don't think it's much of a question but how's he holding up?"

Following his nephew's suit Barry too had begun picking at his half of the sub. "She's currently tying to stop him from tearing up the City. Apparently he takes after his name pretty well."

"Guy's like sixty years old."

"Fifty something and you should know better."

Thinking about it the first person Wally could picture was Jay Garrick. "Yea, you're right. But still."

"We're keeping a close eye on both of them. Whoever did that is still out there so until they're caught he's not out of the woods all the way." Watching the younger male nod his head, Barry could tell he was still not all the way home. "You want to go for a run to clear your head?"

"Yea sure that may-Run?" Pausing Wally's eyes went from narrowed to wide in realization of something before he sped out of his chair nearly knocking it over. "Run. That's it! You are the smartest greatest Uncle ever. Don't let anyone tell you any differently." Speeding out of the kitchen with his sandwich in hand he left his uncle to wonder exactly what exactly had just happened.

Hearing the door slam shut Barry turned to the empty chair to the table with the empty plate. Picking up his sandwich he took a bite out of it moving the plate to now rest in front of him. The only thing running through the fastest man alive head. His nephew had just called him the greatest uncle ever.

**-X-**

**Kaldur**

Fitting his hand into his sweat suit pocket Kaldur clasped his hand around smooth metal before sitting down at the nearest park bench. He had just gotten done from talking to King Orin, not about Ying's shooting but about finding the male who had attacked their teammate. He had somehow vanished without a trace leaving nothing behind. From checking the police report, and he had checked the reports (having been around Robin for the amount of time that he had) none of the bystanders had even seen the male.

It was no surprise that he'd have to talk with Robin about the male who had stopped him earlier. It was too much of a coincidence to not be related some way. Knowing the others he was pretty sure they had felt the same way. No, they would get to the bottom of this.

His hand clutching harder around the pocket watch Kaldur took it out of his pocket admiring the silver time keeper its' would be smooth metal surface flecked with splotches of blood. _"Tell Sammy Thank you," _he could remember hearing the male say as he pulled it from the chain that now lay broken somewhere at the fair, trampled and forgotten. Flipping the pocket watch over Kaldur could make out an inscription on the back written in Chinese characters. Nothing new there. Why would the male give it to him? Deciding it best to figure out why, what could possibly be inside, for it was too light to have its actual mechanics Kaldur popped the top only to fumble at catching a folded up piece of paper.

Putting the pocket watch down on his lap the Atlantean proceeded to open the paper to receive the shock of his 17 year old life. Staring back at him in the tinniest letters imaginable was a full letter addressed to him personally from Ying written out in English.

_Dear Kaldur'ahm,_

_It may sound cheesy that I write to you in this manner but if this is to reach you than I am either dead or at the moment, of no use to anyone. It is not that I had foreseen this coming or trust me, this information would be far from your eyes, but a precaution set on by a fairly wise woman. There are many things that I wish I could have clarified with you all and things I wish never had to happen. Know that for the most part I have been on your side even though I haven't been as truthful as one would...rather should a comrade. It is true that I was sent here to look for the whispering souls but under false pretenses have I told to you all my motives. I am born of the Dragon of the Jade Sun. The same Jade Sun you have found yourselves up against just recently. The same I have taken a false action against. I assume Batman has known this all along but for whatever reason has remained silent. Their blood courses through my veins just as much as that of the true Atlantean's runs through yours. A Phoenix child I have grown up as a Shadow Oni would, the assassins of our world. How mixed my blood is to have two rival gangs within them. This may not make much sense to you but trust me. It has not been an easy thing. This life. _

_As not much room is left I am leaving you instructions to a place where you can learn more of the truth. My only mission in life has ever been to serve and protect my Phoenix and Lady, Cai Lei. Through my time with Lee and his family, and with you all I have learned that there is so much more to life. Thank you for giving me that opportunity. May good fortune reach you all. _

_O.Y._

_P.S. Before I forget. Talk to your three amigos…I think the saying goes. I have given them a side mission along with this one. They have valuable information that will help you finish what I could not. Keep it safe._

_XieXie_

Looking the paper over front and back Kaldur realized that there was nothing else written. How was he supposed to have found this extra knowledge without the instructions? Looking the paper over Kaldur tired piecing together what the male had written.

He's Shadow Oni and Jade Sun? Said much by the tattoos on his chest exposed when they had revived the male. He had told them about the items under false pretenses but he was on their side. This new information better clear all of this up. He'd just have to find it first. Then there was that last little bit. He was talking about Roy, Robin and Wally that much was for certain but what did they know that the others didn't. Probably a whole lot.

It came as no surprise that they all had felt differently about the male prior to his shooting and with everything so fresh he didn't know how they'd take this. With open eyes or closed off? They'd soon enough ask him about the pocket watch regardless. It would do to tell them now. Readying himself for the pending verbal fight to come Kaldur stood from the park bench and headed off back to the nearest zeta. They all had enough time to grieve. It was time for action.

_**End Chapter**_

Next up. Ying's "_deathbed_" confessional won't be the only big secret being spilled.


	22. AN

Hello readers. I apologize for the near 3 month delay. It's taken me a minute to write the next chapter as you all can see. No it's not discontinued I just had to re-figure were the story was going. .

The next chapter should be up within the next week, hopefully by the end of this one if I'm lucky enough. Just for you all I will be posting not one but two chapters. So once again sorry.


	23. Chapter 23

**So as stated earlier I apologize to all of you who have stuck with me till now for the long update. **

**Disclaimer…Other than original character(s) I do not own Young Justice. Would love to…but life and loans is hindering me from committing such a joyous act. **

_**Last time on Effects of Black and White**_

_**Looking the paper over front and back Kaldur realized that there was nothing else written. How was he supposed to have found this extra knowledge without the instructions? Looking the paper over Kaldur tired piecing together what the male had written.**_

_**He's Shadow Oni and Jade Sun? Said much by the tattoos on his chest exposed when they had revived the male. He had told them about the items under false pretenses but he was on their side. This new information better clear all of this up. He'd just have to find it first. Then there was that last little bit. He was talking about Roy, Robin and Wally that much was for certain but what did they know that the others didn't. Probably a whole lot.**_

_**It came as no surprise that they all had felt differently about the male prior to his shooting and with everything so fresh he didn't know how they'd take this. With open eyes or closed off? They'd soon enough ask him about the pocket watch regardless. It would do to tell them now. Readying himself for the pending verbal fight to come Kaldur stood from the park bench and headed off back to the nearest zeta. They all had enough time to grieve. It was time for action.**_

**Enjoy. XD**

"Who lit the fire under your ass Baywatch?"

Wally had been pacing back and forth in the middle of the living room waiting for the rest of the team, i.e Kaldur to show up. Robin and the others had arrived relatively within the same time frame, Raquel being the second to last to show up.

For the last ten minutes, Robin sat patiently watching his best friend, somewhat curious and yet knowing slightly what the redhead was going to say. He had gotten a call from the energetic young speedster right when he was getting ready for bed (unauthorized patrol) not needing to take the time to get dressed.

The same couldn't be said for the female standing beside him. Having walked in with Artemis on meeting up at the entrance, she looked more than pissed that she had been called at the ungodly hour, saying as much on the walk to the living room. They had a long day and some change. How Kid-Idiot got her phone number anyway she did not even want to…Glaring down at the black haired troll walking alongside her, Artemis had a good idea of who. She'd have enough time figure that out later. Right now they had other business to attend to.

Having gotten into the room she was not expecting to see the redhead wearing a whole into the floor. She was not going to be the one to explain that to Batman. Nope.

"How about you sit here and wait," Wally said speeding in front of Artemis before lifting her quickly into the air depositing her into the nearest chair. "Then once Kaldur gets here we can begin."

No sooner had those words left Wally's mouth did the Atlantean male walk into the room. His facial expression set into a neutral look as he entered taking a seat in the empty recliner.

"You called us all here Kid Flash."

Nodding his head, the use of his name had not gone unnoticed by the redhead, let alone the rest of the team. There was something that he had to tell them. What it was no one knew.

Plopping down next to the archer Wally pointedly ignored the indignant glare she was sending him before picking up where he had left off.

"I was thinking about a lot of things trying to figure out the links between what's been going on recently sense we've been given this mission because let's face it. We don't know a lot of what we're dealing with."

Cutting off Raquel before she could say anything snarky, no doubt against Rokuro who was currently incapacitated at the moment, Wally continued. "

"Robin, were you able to catch anything the male said?" Ying had been facing away from them so they had to rely on whatever Robin may have picked up on reading the male.

"He wasn't speaking English," Robin answered with a shake of his head. Reading Mandarin from a site or on a piece of paper was one thing. Having to understand it by reading lip was another, assuming that was what he was speaking. The differences in language was something else Robin had to learn how to comprehend.

Vibrant green eyes landed on the young Kryptonian. "Conner did you catch anything of what the male had said to Ying?"

All eyes on him, Conner thought about the scene focusing on the sounds and not the visuals.

_-xXx-_

_People laughing. _

"_Okiayu Ying-Xue."_

_Curious as to what was going on Conner turned around along with half of his teammates to see the Asian male but a few yards away. Filtering through the noises surrounding them Conner had missed the first part of what Ying had said to the male catching everything else. Not able to understand what was __being__ said, the tone of the older males voice peeked his interest. He sounded…angry._

"…_Nǐ zài zhèlǐ zuò shénme?"__ [What are you doing here?]_

_Answering back the new comer sounded authoritative, smug…like the thugs Conner remembered beating up many times before. Conner did not like the sound of his voice one bit. "__Fènghuáng gěile tā zuì chéngzhì de wènhòu__." [The Pheonix gives her best regards to you.]_

_Surprise. Suspicion. "__Shì shénme__-" [What does-]_

_Finality. "Nǐ de gōngzuò yǐjīng wánchéng. Tā bù zài xūyào nǐ de bāngzhù" [Your work here is done. She no longer needs your assistance.]_

_Shock. Hurt. "Fènghuáng wèishì-" [The Phoenix wouldn't-]_

_Nothing. "_Wǒ xīwàng nǐ yǒu yīgè wěidà de yùnxíng... Zàijiànle_"_

_Silence followed by gunshots. _

_-xXx-_

Relating everything to the team Conner opened his eyes. What good would that do if they had no clue what he was saying? He sure enough didn't know if he had pronounced the words correctly either.

"He spoke in Mandarin which is why Robin couldn't recognize what he was saying right away and why you couldn't understand what he was saying even though you could hear."

"But how could you tell?"

"I go to China a lot with Flash."

"Restaurants," Artemis voiced rolling her eyes. _Of course._

"Yep," the male voiced not at all peeved at the blonde. "Anyway. The shop owner of the little place we stop by normally tells us to have a nice run in Mandarin. I know because I asked him one time what he was saying. Anyway I replayed what the guy was saying in my head over and over and over and over again till it hit me. Rather Flash saying the word 'Run,' and BOOM! Instant play in my head. The last thing he said was along the lines of having a nice run."

"And all of that before?"

"No clue," Wally said with a shrug. "Doesn't mean we can't find out though." With a quick glance to Robin and Roy, both males knew right away what Wally was referring to. They had a few tricks down on how to translate the language. It may be a bit trickier having only the spoken version to go by but hey. Robin wasn't the protégé of the greatest detective for nothing.

Having gone through every possible translation, along with three different language sites, and Robins gauntlet, they had finally translated what could have been the conversation. It had made the most sense to them anyway having come up with sentences that none of them were every going to repeat again.

At one point Red Tornado had walked in, looked at each of them, silently walking back out. To say they had acted a bit suspicious, all freezing, any and all conversation dying, was an understatement. Red Tornado might not say anything to the other members. Might not. Wasn't a high possibility but hey. They could dream.

Looking over the note Robin couldn't help but one word that had shown up in his mother's diary. Fènghuáng. Phoenix.

_Ying-What are you doing here?_

_Random Male-The Phoenix gives his best regards to you._

_Y-What does-_

_RM-Your work here is done. He no longer needs your assistance._

_Y-The Phoenix wouldn't-_

_RM- I hope you had a nice run…Goodbye, Rentetsu Uma._

He…Who was…Is he? His mother had mentioned a male referring to her brother as Phoenix. Could it be? Was Ying working for his family? Looking the translation over again it could have been translated either way. Ta…He/She. What if it was a female? That was a very big possibility with everything that was going on. The leader of the Jade Sun was female. But that of the shadow Oni was male, remembering the conflicting tattoo's on the males chest.

Gosh this was so confusing.

Scanning the paper over, Raquel only had one problem with the translations. "How come that part's not translated?" she asked pointing to the last two words.

"Japanese."

Turning to greet the older redhead none of them had heard the automated voice signal his return to the mountain. Apparently Wally had not just called the full members of the Young Justice. "It means Wrought iron horse." On seeing the still puzzled faces of the younger hero's Roy rolled his eyes. "I had a long talk with Lee today," Roy answered the curious looks he had received from the group of teen hero's. "Apparently Ying went by that name when he worked for the Shadow Oni….Before being sent by the Jade Sun on a mission to kill Crimson."

"What?"

"That-"

"I," Roy said shutting the younger team members up with a stern look, "Was not given the full details on why. Lee seems to trust him, Canary trust's Lee. You do the math."

"Benefit of the doubt."

Nodding his head once, Roy pulled up a chair placing it next to were his two best friends sat. "Things are a lot heavier than what we were originally told is what I'm thinking." Fighting with himself on whether he should speak with the team first about his run in with Dorian first or whether he should speak to the league Roy shook his head. Either way this was not something that could, let alone should, be kept to himself. He's talk with Robin first. Then the league, then the team. The sooner the better.

"That," Kaldur spoke up for the first time in a while, his words spoken in a matter of fact tone. "Is very much true." His full attention on the older redhead Kaldur crossed his legs to get more comfortable. They'd be at this for a while. "Pease share with us what it is you know."

Relaying everything else he was told in his conversation with the aging crime fighter Roy glanced every once and a while to the raven, glad that he for once remembered to bring his own shades. Too many questions he was not ready to ask let alone have answered just yet.

"That," Kaldur spoke up for the first time in a while. "It very much true. Pease share with us what it is you know."

Roy recalled most of the conversation with the team, minus what he overheard the doctor tell Lee and Dorian. He did, however, mention that Lee had thanked them for saving Ying's life. He could tell the older male was grateful.

"You think he's really going to go after them himself?" Zatanna asked a bit surprised at Roy's words. She, like many of them had never met the Crimson Avenger before in suit, let alone out of it. To hear that he was about the same age as the original Flash was enough to stop her own heart.

"You can't put things past people at any age," Wally recalled from the conversation with his uncle a little while ago. "That must be another reason why Black Canary went down to the Hospital."

"More than likely." Robin said. He was the only one to have met Crimson during a mission remembering the male to be a force of his own to be reckoned with even with the body guard.

"This is pretty big."

"This is bigger than what we have been led to realize. Much bigger." Kaldur took the pocket watch out of his jumpsuit placing it on the table before him. Some of the team recognized it as the one Ying had taken out of his shirt, subsequently handing it to the Atlantean.

Reading the letter out loud Kaldur placed it down on the table stopping a little just before the end. "What Roy said confirms along, with his tattoos that Ying is by blood part of these organizations. The Phoenix he spoke of is Lady Cai Lei. What she is to him, however is still unclear and may not be important at this time."

"Whatever relationship the male whom shot Ying had with either of them is questionable. It's possible he worked with them do to his knowledge of Ying and Lady Cai Lei," Kaldur continued seeing that the team had been thinking the same thing after the first part of the note had been revealed. "We need to find out what's really going on before it is too late to stop or fix this."

"He said there was more that he had to tell us," M'gann said thinking about what was read to them. "Did it say anywhere, any clues as of how to find it?"

"None that I could see right away, no. That is why we will work this out as a team."

"And the League?" Conner asked wondering exactly where that all fit in. After they had disobeyed the last instructions from Batman the boy of steel wasn't too sure he'd do that again.

"They're the ones who gave us this mission," Roy supplied leaning forward in his chair. "If they have anything to say they can blame themselves."

Nodding his head in agreement Kaldur returned his attention back to the rest of the team. "We will see this through, start to finish." _It's only right_, he thought before getting to other matters at hand. "We need to find out what other messages he left for us, but in the meantime there was something else on the note."

Picking back up the note Kaldur red the last few lines, slower, making sure that the whole room was paying attention.

_P.S. Before I forget. Talk to your three amigos…I think the saying goes. I have given them a side mission along with this one. They have valuable information that will help you finish what I could not. Keep it safe._

_XieXie_

Looking over the paper to the youngest in the room Kaldur continued to speak. "Is there something that you would like to tell us?" From the letter it was clear that Robin and the two redheads knew more than what they had shared over the past few weeks. If there was ever a perfect time to divulge, now was a better time than any.

"Now I think should be the time we be frank with one another."

-X-

Lei stared out the window of her private jet her eyes locked on the clouds soaring by in the light of morning. Three hours into their long flight, legs and neck slightly beginning to cramp her thoughts were on their destination. It had been years since she had gone to the city the last time under less life threatening circumstances.

She had waited nearly four hours for her jet to be prepared nearly firing, in her case killing, the repair men for taking so long. Really it shouldn't take nearly four hours to check and fuel a jet. _One at the most_. Then having to rush a flight plan. When was being her not enough to garner enough of a pass for legal matters later? Nope. The nerve of some nations.

The door to the pilot's wing opened slowly to one of two men walking into her cabin. Dante. I know he doesn't plan on leaving Kaito to fly this thing by himself, Lei thought quickly scanning over the male before gazing back out of the window. If he didn't get the hint now then she'd threaten to shoot him.

The door opening the second time alarmed the woman. "Who the hell is flying my jet?"

"Autopilot my Lady," Kaito said. It had been the first three words he had spoken since they had gotten into the air having apparently said the wrong thing getting a lovely golden crusted gun placed to his temple. He would rather not press his luck again with the woman knowing she was not in the mood.

Huffing, Lei turned her gaze upon the first male that had interrupted her thoughts.

Dante looked to his lady before back at Kaito as if asking him what they should do. He never was one to go for the male for advice likening him to an oversized child, idiot at best, but he did have his moments of clarity at times. Not often but the male was not a complete dolt. Dante wouldn't have bothered training him let alone speaking up for him to the past leader in the first place if he had thought so.

"Lady," Kaito began after getting his thoughts together. Better now than never. "When we get to the states maybe it would be best for you to rest. I know that-"

"Are you questioning my judgment Dante?"

To be fair the male had been expecting the biting tone from his Lady. The frosty look in her eyes, however, was something else. Treading carefully Dante started again. If anything he knew he was quick enough to push Kaito in his way if she decided to shoot. "No my Lady I am only thinking of your safety. Nothing else."

Cutting the male off once again Lei returned her gaze to the passing clouds out the window all but dismissing him with her words. "I am the Phoenix. Taught by the mighty Red Dragon of the sun. His fire set birth the ashes I rose from, just like his Golden Sun gave him his fire from which he burned. I will not fall to anyone."

_She just had to go there_, Dante thought catching the slight raised eyebrows of Kaito. No doubt he had never heard Lei bite his head off before. Her disdain had normally been sent solely to the younger of the two. "I understand my Lady. I humbly ask for your forgiveness. I had wished to give this to you earlier but the time did not seem the most opportune." Reaching into his waistband Dante retrieved the dagger holding it out for Lei.

_-xXx-_

"_And what is your mission?"A much younger Lei asked a kneeling figure wearing a mask. Her face as stern as ever eyes hard and glinting underneath the artificial lights she stalked around the knelt assassin scrutinizing his every breath. There was no room for error in this mission. She had handpicked this one specifically as no one else would do. Not the strongest or the most adapt at fighting those skills were not key to what she needed. She needed stealth, low key, a fox unlike herself. _

_Bowing his head lower the assassin spoke, his voice muffled slightly by the mask, a lion-esque demon with a blood red mane and eyebrows, the face mostly black with purple highlighted between the eyes and on it's nose, it's teeth bright white and gleaming. "Phoenix, my Lady. To garner information concerning the man Lee Walter Travis, editor and creator of one of the most influential papers in North America. Dispose of him if it deemed necessary, as our way. I am to subsequently retrieve the Eight Whispering Souls stolen by the previous Guardian."_

"_And should you fail?"_

"_Failure is not an option Phoenix." the male responded without hesitation." Should I, however, it will only be due to death, slain by the hands of those more skilled than I. No other option is acceptable, my Lady."_

"_Very good. You may go." Satisfied by the males answers Lei turned around signifying that she was finished with her task. Now it was time for him to do his._

"_Yes my Lady." Waiting but another moment the male stood to full height before backing out of the room, his head still carefully bowed out of respect for his Lady. Stopping at the door he paused before calling out, heart pounding for what he was about to ask. "My Lady?"_

_Turning back to face the male Lei was a bit surprised to see that he had yet to leave. "Yes Rentetsu?"_

_Pausing yet again the answer he had received was a good sign. Not going to back out less he miss his opportunity Rentetsu quickly walked towards Lei dropping back down at her feet. "If I may." Reaching into his jacket sleeve the male pulled out a rather warn dagger, sheathed in ivory adorned with ruby jewels._

"_It is a great honor, my Lady, to have been chosen by the Phoenix for this mission. Please as a token of my gratitude I offer you this." Head bowed Rentetsu held it forward in both hands for Lei to take. If she would. "It is very old and has lost its shine, dulled with age but it was once one of the finest within the land of Nihon. It would be a great honor if you would accept this as a token of my gratitude and allegiance to you and only you."_

_Taking up the dagger after a moment Lei took it from its scabbard holding the metal to the light overhead. It had in fact lost most of its luster. Placing the point to her finger Lei tested it. Duller than a butter knife. Turning with the dagger in hand Lei gave the seventeen year old one more command before rummaging through the small chest on her desk. "Stay."_

_Finding what she wanted Lei walked back over to the male kneeling a bit before placing the locket styled pocket watch over Rentetsu's head. "This once belonged to someone most important to me. My grandmother. You will keep this with you at all times. Keep it safe. I will want it back." Allowing himself the chance Rentetsu looked up from the floor into Lei's eyes before taking up the watch hanging from his neck in gloved hands turning it over and over._

_Lei, although she could not see his face behind the mask knew his eyes had brightened catching it in his tone slightly as he spoke. She would allow him this one slip as long as he showed no more of this weakness in the field. "Yes my Lady, thank you. You will not be disappointed."_

_Straightening up Lei turned for the last time. "Now you may go." _

"_Yes, my Lady."_

_-xXx-_

"My Lady?"

Snapping out of her thoughts Lei looked down at her subordinate. Just when had he gotten to his knees she wondered to herself. Taking the dagger Lei looked at it scanning for all of the key points. She knew Dante would die before handing her a fake item but some things could never be unlearned. "Thank you. The both of you. Dismissed."

Nodding his head Dante shared a quick look with Kaito before both returned to the pilot's chambers closing the door thus leaving their Lady to her thoughts.

Since he had left six years ago the male had done his job…for the most part, finding the majority of the items. He was by far a lot faster than his predecessor's. "He better have kept that locket safe," Lei mumbled before tearing her gaze form the dagger back to the window.

-X-

Robin, Wally, and Roy stood up against the rocks of the cave, the rest of the team standing around them, all their attention on the three best friends. Having felt it not the proper place to divulge any more information than what was already out in the open Robin had opted they take it outside the cave. It was a bit more secluded with the colder night air blowing softly, the calming sound of the waves in the background.

Sighing Robin looked slowly from one member to the other, stopping on Zatanna who stood off to the side next to Artemis, then to the archer herself. "I guess this is as good a time as any," Robin said breaking the silence.

Deflating he reached up to his face removing his sunglasses from his face.

End Chapter


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer…Other than original character(s) I do not own Young Justice. Would love to…but life and loans is hindering me from committing such a joyous act. **

**A:N- WARNING/View Discretion is advised- Cursing and all that good jazz.**

**Thank you for reading. XD**

"You foolish boy," Lei spoke softly getting a fool view of Ying's predicament. His pale form lay in the middle of the bed, a thin pastel blue sheet covering him from the chest down, one arm over the sheet hooked up to an IV and blood, a pulse monitor on his left pointer finger. It wouldn't have been so angering had there no need for a machine to pump air into his lungs to keep him breathing knowing he was not fit to do so himself.

"You play me for a fool as well letting me on to believe you competent enough for this task. Shameful how you lay here with a job to finish or does it all not matter? I possess all the right to end your pathetic useless existence this instant. Nobody would halt me from committing such an act." The whole while Kaito and Dante remained silent watching the woman rant and rave at the comatose male watching as their Lady grew more enraged as the time clicked forward.

When they had finally arrived in the Americas there was no rest from the 23 hour flight before they headed straight for the hospital after acquiring a ride from one of their American workers. The ride had been stuffy and tension filled to say the least, their worker feeling it more so not used to the quietly seething and quite deadly woman staring daggers through his windshield.

Promptly they had walked through the hospital wings getting directions to the young man's room Kaito, uncharacteristically so, staying a few paces ahead of Lei as to ask nurses questions regarding the males condition and room, he no doubt didn't want to have an international problem on their hands less the woman snap. She had managed to only destroy the one glass and wine bottle (upon finishing its contents in one go) before heading straight for her rushed ready prepared jet. Dante would like to keep it that way.

When they had finally gotten to the room Kaito had opened it for Lei allowing her entrance in first.

"That would not be one of your wisest choices Madame."

Eyes wide at the fact they had let someone in the room other than a nurse both Dante and Kaito placed their hands upon their guns keeping them there as they stared at the intruder who was _not_ a doctor or nurse.

He was an older male clad in a black three piece suit, white undershirt and matching fedora. Using a wooden cane to walk the light eyed male paid no attention to the tension within the room as he turned his back closing the hospital room door before returning his sharp gaze upon all occupants of the room.

"Lee Travis," Lei spoke the name like it had burned her skin, the anger resurging in the depths of her eyes. Without so much as another word she reached into her purse brandishing a hand gun directly pointed at the male's chest. "Give me one reason why I should spare your life Travis?"

Lee was not at all in the least bit shocked the woman knew who he was let alone her pulling out a gun on him. She after all had been the one to place the hit upon his head that he was sure of, sending the young man to do her job. Whether she would finish that now that they had finally met face to face was all up to her. He knew, however, that she would not.

"Now Madame," Lee spoke his normal tone gruff and unforgiving. "If you were going to you would have done it by now," Lee said staring coolly back at the younger woman. "And under the circumstances with the timing. It doesn't suit you."

Lowering her gun Lei smiled sweetly at the male before her, the smile misplaced due to her cold eyes. "You would be correct." Placing the metal weapon back into her purse she returned her gaze onto Ying watching his chest rise and fall due to the ventilator, a morose look crossing over her features. She proceeded to lean slightly over the comatose male brushing aside his stray bangs to get a better view of his face.

Lee, all the while watched the woman noting her gentle care of the bed ridden male. He had known they were somehow related but never knew how far it extended. "What's your relation with Ying?" Lee asked lightly tapping his cane against the ground all but ignoring the two males whom had yet to relax even with their boss's back turned to the older male.

"Ying is my brother." Answered without so much as a pause, Lei moved her hand to Ying's cheek before stooping down planting a kiss on his forehead.

Lee noted that her speech was just as formal, if not more, than Ying's when they had first met. He had toned it down over the four years they had known each other but even then he was as polite as ever. "Brother?"

"He is third oldest of six," she answered steadily looking at the monitors signifying that the male was still in fact alive, the lines securing that fact. It was too many times that she came close to losing the male in the past, this recent attack by far the closest. The last time she had even seen the male in person he was just barely sixteen, still a boy despite haven taken countless lives of their rival gangs. It was the day before he left for America to gain spreading information on the Whispering Souls including his mission for the male standing before her.

"So what was he other than that to you? Clearly you don't let your brother continuously take countless lives until his own is snuffed out. What kind of childhood is that?"

Not at all riled by the older male's gruff tone Lei simply flicked her long black hair over her shoulder before snapping her attention to her two body guards. "Dante…Kaito." Both males bowed quietly before leaving the room having been told nothing else, Dante grilling the male on their way out.

Turning back to the older male before her, Lei smiled although there was no happiness within her features. "One befitting our family Mr. Travis," she answered before taking a calculated step towards the male gauging his reaction. _As stiff as an oak tree during a storm._ They snapped so easily. "Every empire needs a head to survive, to protect that head you need trustworthy and loyal people around you. Advisors, council… and soldiers. People to make sure that everything runs as smooth as possible."

"So your other siblings?" It wouldn't be too far from the truth for Lee if the woman before him, this viper for she was worse than a fox capturing a mother hen, had sacrificed her other sibling to be slaughtered at some point or another.

Smile faltering slightly she caught herself before answering. "My older brother regrettably died a year before he was to be given the Phoenix position once my father left the mantle. I took charge being his next pick. My two younger sisters make up the heads of my council and my youngest brother my head advisor."

"Leaving Ying to what…die for you."

"Fight, gain information. Be my eyes and my ears Do what we could not within the public eye less we tarnish the family name and draw suspicion to our true motives."

"Being?"

Smirking now, Lei chuckled humorlessly before shaking her head. "Do you take me for a fool Mr. Travis? Your paper is far too grand for it to not end us if too much were to be given out. No. I am not."

"But you risk the life of a loved one for gain."

"Trust me, I am not happy things turned out as such," she looked over to Ying a far-away look in her eyes. "I already lost one brother, however." Lei turned to Lee her eyes hard as diamonds. "As the oldest now it is my duty to protect my siblings. Be that as it may my duty as the Phoenix my duty it to protect the family as a whole. One weak link can spoil the chain, the saying goes. These past few years he has been nothing but."

"How can you-"

"Because of you Mr. Travis. You and your silly notions. Did you know that till he came to America he had been flawless in his work? Every order was carried out to perfection. But now…He cannot follow through without spoiling something, without second guessing his actions. Talking with him not but a week ago let me see how much he has fallen."

"The boy thinks for himself now. Is that really a horrible thing?"

"When it comes to a soldier of my company…Yes. You begin to think and disobey my orders, this happens. Had he taken care of you like ordered this," she motioned to her brother's still form, "would not have happened."

"Only for him to be put in more dangerous situation later? I've seen the scars, heard the stories. He's been hurt just as bad before."

Pausing for just a moment Lei's eyes narrowed her lips pursed before she spoke, her voice questioning. "Oh…How have you accomplished keeping him safe?"

"I have kept an eye on him ever since he came here, ever since he started working for me."

"Which cost him." Lei walked over to the window looking out at the less than busy street below. It was so unlike the streets back home in China. When was the last time the male had even stepped foot into his own country? Surely he wouldn't till his mission was completed. "He waivered," Lei broke the silence still staring out of the window at the dark sky. "And that nearly cost him his life. He was always prepared, always ready to take a life especially when that person became a threat. He saw a threat at the park and was not prepared. He became careless."

"Yes. Attempting to have a normal day away from the stress of what you or even I put on him was so bad. What nearly killed him Madame…was your organization."

"He is weak."

Obviously the woman was not going to consider anything he had to say. "That boy is anything but."

Once again Lee found himself looking into a set of cold brown eyes. "He is nothing more than a dog way past his prime."

"How could you-"

"And as my job to protect my family he must be taken care of."

"Madame," Lee spoke his grip on his cane tightening as he stared daggers at the younger woman. Was she the one who put the hit out on Ying? Her own brother? No. She was the type of woman to take care of those matters in the flesh. "If you even so much as raise that gun to Ying I will personally see to it that will be the last thing you do."

Cocking her head to the side in slight amusement Lei's voice mirrored her actions. "You would dare raise a hand to me?"

"I'm old and dying anyway Madame. But he, nor I will, be the only ones leaving this world tonight."

Stalking back towards the male, Lei's eyes bore into his not a word passed between the two. "You will do." Not able to ask what the woman was referring to Lei continued past him reaching a manicured hand to the door. "Meet me at the Windsor Hotel 1:30 tonight. There is much to be discussed.. You are very welcome to come too Batman," Lei spoke as she continued out of the door with one last glance to her brother she left.

Cold air soon hit the older male as he turned to the window that had, seemingly, opened by itself.

"I should have known," Lee spoke, deflating a bit as the Dark Knight entered through the window closing it swiftly behind him.

"We need to talk."

"That, is an understatement."

**End Chapter**

**So this one is by far the shortest one I have written. Not to fret more to come. XD**

**That little train is going to crash in a few chapters. **


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: Do not own Young justice or the Justice League. They are property of DC Comics and their respective creators/writers.**

**Short a/n- So I'm thinking this story is finally coming to a close. Maybe another less than ten chapters or so before the finale but who knows. It's been real and I'd like to thank the people who have stuck with me and this long haul. If I was wearing a hat I'd take it off for you. This chap is rather short I know but I had to get it out there. **

**Um so yea…Enjoy.**

**Last on EoBaW**

_**Stalking back towards the male, Lei's eyes bore into his not a word passed between the two. "You will do." Not able to ask what the woman was referring to Lei continued past him reaching a manicured hand to the door. "Meet me at the Windsor Hotel 1:30 tonight. There is much to be discussed.. You are very welcome to come too Batman," Lei spoke as she continued out of the door with one last glance to her brother she left.**_

_**Cold air soon hit the older male as he turned to the window that had, seemingly, opened by itself.**_

_**"I should have known," Lee spoke, deflating a bit as the Dark Knight entered through the window closing it swiftly behind him.**_

_**"We need to talk."**_

_**"That, is an understatement."**_

**Continued…..**

It had taken Roy, Wally, and Dick a while to get to the museum without the help of the Bioship, having hailed a taxi after of course walking a ways from the Zeta tube. If there was one thing they knew it was to keep any and all prying eyes off of them and getting a taxi near an abandoned warehouse like that was not the way to do it.

"So where do we start?" Wally asked looking around the rather large lobby. He, like the other two standing in the mostly empty hall hadn't had the time previously to enjoy the cultural esthetics. Now it wasn't like they could enjoy it today either, with everything heavy weighing down on them.

"Anywhere would be fine," Roy grumbled heading directly to the first exhibit.

Giving Dick a slight nudge to get moving, they shared a quick glance, a small smile gracing the raven's features, before they quickly followed after Roy. Once again it wasn't much as far as Wally was concerned, his focus half on his younger friend, but it would do. Once all of this was over Wally was going to force all three of them to a week of nothing but movies. No classes, no team missions, no outside disturbances. Just them, the TV, and a crap load of popcorn.

Making it into the first exhibit, Wally walked up to a rather large document that Roy had been staring at for who knows how long. The male walked way too fast when he was on a mission. Finishing up with the manuscript that was surprisingly in English, Wally moved onto glancing around the room realizing that the white walls were decorated with nothing but historical papers. Thankfully not all as massive as the ones they stood in front of.

After a few more seconds of gazing upon the document, Roy moved onto the next one, this surrounded by glass. Focusing his gaze on the documents behind the glass, Roy spoke keeping his voice low enough for just his two younger friends to hear, even with only two other people on the other side of the room. "There's a lot about you that guy knows about. Especially when it comes to this business we're in right now."

"That Dorian guy," Wally pondered; speed reading through the same document Roy had ceased to read before moving onto the next one. A smack from Dick was all he needed to slow his role having forgotten that they were in public. "What's up with him?"

It took Dick a moment to answer not at all sure how true what the strange male had said was, feeling deep down somewhere that it was. "He said he was my Uncle."

"Half uncle," Roy butt in stepping away from the document moving onto the next glass covered paper. "And from the looks of it I'm going to guess and say your father's side of the family."

That was something Dick would have to agree on. "…Yea."

"So this guy?" Wally asked stepping up to another document, this one depicting a samurai not unlike the ones that stood out in the lobby. Really it would help to have some form of clue as to what it was they were looking for. Right now he felt like just any other person who frequented the museum to just stare at history.

"That's all he told me before Sammy came." The only thing of real importance, that is. Honestly he wished he had more time to talk with the older male, at least get a feel for himself just what Dorian was up to.

Nodding his head Roy kept his eyes on the new document Wally was staring at. Nothing was popping out to him what-so-ever. "He showed up at the hospital."

This got two sets of eyes to tear themselves from their purchase on the picture to him. "For what?" It was Dick who had voiced the question that was on the tip of the younger redheads tongue.

Tearing his own eyes from the manuscript to the youngest member of their group Roy studied Dicks face. "Come on." Without question Wally and Robin followed the older redhead to a more secluded portion of the room before posting up against the wall. "Dorian and I talked. Apparently he knows a lot about what's going on right now between you, the items, Ying, and the Jade Sun. On top of whatever it is those three gangs have been up to in the past."

Taking in the information, Dick was trying his best to put two and two together. There was a reason why the older male had chosen now of all times to reveal himself. "So why is he here?"

"Dorian says it's to protect you."

That was not the answer that Dick was expecting to get. He, however, knew Roy to not be a liar. He may have been one to bend the truth from time to time but that was only when it involved Ollie and this was not one of those times. "But you don't believe him." He had caught onto the slight sarcastic tone that Roy's voice had gained at the end of his words.

"Not one bit."

Answered rather quickly, Wally would take that reply and run with it. "What did he want?"

"I have three days to kill Ying. Finish his job. I'm pretty sure if I don't he won't just stop at finishing that off. "

_Wait, woah, what?_ "He's the one that…"

"Once again…To protect you."

"Why?"

"From what he says, Ying was originally down here to kill you. With his association with the Jade Sun and Shadow Oni, and your mother being a Guardian…It could be bad blood." Stepping off the wall Roy began to walk again albeit slowly keeping his voice down as they continued onto another exhibit. "Something must have happened between her reading that book and leaving Asia with at least the locket."

Nodding his head, Dick couldn't agree more with Roy's deductions. "For them to send over a would be assassin to get it back, yea."

"Either that," Roy spoke up, stopping once again, this time in front of a rather large jade dragon in the next room. "Or something bigger was going down. Crimson admitted Ying was there to get rid of him. There was something going on that the organizations didn't want him leaking but regardless of that Ying didn't do it."

"I doubt they told Ying exactly what that information was, if that were the case, just as long as he got rid of Lee. However he did it could have either been up to his discretion."

"Or he was meant to bring us into the mix," Wally mused thinking of the events. How likely was it that he would have worked his way to getting to become the Crimson Avenger's partner, someone who was not a member of the League, into working alongside the League and their partners? All for the sake of what?

Going with the 'Here to kill Dick theory…'

Ying would have to know that the League would be suspicious, more so than they were before, if he had of just shown up out of the blue without some form of backing. The League, especially the founding members, would be less likely to trust him let alone allow the male permission to work alongside the Young Justice by himself. So you have Roy accompany them and virtually have Black Canary on stand-by (no doubt the older hero had been doing her own form of research on Lee and Ying.)

Between that, Batman would have done extensive background checks on the male as well, if he hadn't already, meaning that any and all information would have been gained within like what…A few days of them having worked with the Ying. Meaning that since they had worked with the older male for a little over a month, Batman had found nothing incriminating on him, at least enough to pull him from further working with Robin and them. So he had a pretty solid and very fake alibi, but would that be enough to fake out the Bat?

If he were indeed a threat then Batman would definitely have gotten that squared away with from the jump. There must be something that they were missing.

"Which could have meant that Ying knew beforehand who Lee Travis actually was," Dick finished the thought out loud bringing Wally back to the conversation at hand. "But since he was sent here to kill him I doubt that's the case."

"Lee Travis is a well-known writer in New York. He brings a lot of crime syndicates as well as crocked multi-billion dollar companies to the light. Think what he could do to a major drug gang," Wally mused stopping himself from delving further into all the possible implications for what was going on. They were definitely missing something.

For some reason two of the three associations had joined forces against another one, deduced from Ying's Tattoo's. All for the sake of the items it was safe to assume, so that meant that Ying was Jade Sun (by blood apparently) and Shadow Oni (blood as well?). He wouldn't have been the only one probably. What people would place all of their apples in one basket? So they were either together through family ties or through business. Sun, Oni, and the Guardians? Against the Eastern Snow Leopard? They still had no clue how the seemingly ghost like organization played a part in all of this.

If it was-

"Why?"

_I really need to stop doing that_, Wally thought as he looked over to Roy who had answered the rest of the unasked question. "Figure out if he knew more than what they could afford."

"Could have been that he found out about Lee being Crimson later on in the game," Wally said placing his hand to his chin in thought. "He's been here for what…four years. It took you less time to find out about you know who and if I remember correctly Rokuro's name had been thrown around for at least the past two maybe three years. Use that to get in good with the league and finish up his job. Two birds with one stone."

_That was plausible_, Dick thought before Roy spoke.

"After your mother, you'd be the next guardian if they go by lineage, or one of her siblings. But considering that instead of her father's sibling gaining the items, even being alive, it was passed down to her."

_Definitely plausible_. "That would mean that the Shadow Oni would still be watching over the Guardians and make sure that whatever happened with the first guardians didn't happen again."

Sidling up to Dick, Wally kept his gaze on the paintings in front of them, these done by a retired samurai during the Meiji period. "Use that information to get close to the league and ultimately you in the end."

"And find out just what exactly I would do with the items," Dick finished the thought not liking where this conversation had gone. "Either find them and return them to their resting place."

"Or use them for bad."

Either way he looked at it Ying was not coming up as the good guy in this. "Suicide mission."

"What changed?"

They were once again at that question. It could have been a million things. "Lee….The man is well…He's hard to explain…But whatever it was either saved your life or put it in even more danger than necessary. Besides if it is true then your life wasn't the only one put in danger by the Shadow Oni and Jade Sun. It could be why Dorian wants Ying out of the picture."

"But three days?," Dick asked. "Sounds like he's playing his own game."

"What if Ying wasn't sent here at all for Lee or you?" Wally added. "Yes, the man is pretty hated amongst crime syndicates but exactly what could he have found out about one all the way in another country? One that Batman hadn't even heard of till just recently?"

"Dorian."

"You think that," Wally cut himself off, his mind quickly digesting the possibilities of what Roy had just said holding merit.

"He hates the organizations. All of them. What if he somehow figured out what they were doing with the items considering he is your half-uncle and is using Ying to drag them out one by one."

This was just becoming too much, Dick thought to himself before voicing his opinion turning back to the statue. "But that would mean he's more than just some throw away assassin."

"No group would allow their family to be sent out on something they had no way of coming back from."

"Or he volunteered to prove himself," Roy spoke, adding to the 'what if's.

"Or his families just as twisted as they come." Turning away from the dragon, Dick ran his hand through his hair before moving to the next statue. A phoenix carved from the same stone. "What's bothering me is how Ying would even know that I was Mary's son. Assuming that he is here to off me."

"The book."

Dick's hand stopped mid run though of his hair.

"Remember he did have position of it for a time and it was specifically given back to you. He said nothing about it to the rest of the team regardless of our little talk about being more open about what was going on the previous day."

This was making more and more sense as the pieces were beginning to click, Wally's mind running a hundred marathons in his head. "If he even just read the first page to figure out what it was then that would have given Ying all he needed to know there _was_ some form of connection between you and MeiLi."

"He was trying to get a reaction out of me."

Nodding his head Roy's arms crossed further over his chest. "Any reaction could have been perceived as a positive reaction."

"So this whole scenario falls under what?" Wally asked, slowly walking around the phoenix. "Had he not known about Dick until recently?"

"It's a possibility that whoever Ying is working for or with knows your family. Personally," Roy added keeping his gaze upon Dick.

Right now the raven haired male wished he could talk to someone, anyone really that knew what was going on. Anyone that could make sense of his past. Two were dead, one wanted who knows what from him, and the others were either in a coma or wanted him dead. Whatever answers Dick knew he could get, still, were encoded in a language he had yet to grasp. "We need to go back to that diary. Backtrack everything that we know."

"Agreed."

Deciding it best to try and go through the museum again, with fresher and more pairs of eyes, Dick, Wally, and Roy headed out of the museum walking past a few exhibits they had yet to venture into.

Smack in the middle of one exhibit was a bronze statue sitting on a black marble podium. Immediately catching Dick's eye the young male stopped dead in his tracks veering off into the otherwise empty room. Noticing his behavior Wally and Roy were not too far behind wondering just what had gained their younger friends attention so quickly.

"Oh." Was the only thing that escaped Wally's mouth as his green eyes lay upon the statue. The only thing in the room, it was a stone carving of a small village surrounded by mountains and a large grassy plain. Little stone villagers were scattered about, carrying on everyday activities from farming, to fishing, and playing. An otherwise peaceful scene till you looked at the mountain.

As if slowly stalking down the side of the mighty rock formation, was none other than the Nian. Even in carved rock the creature held such horrifying power to it, mouth slightly open in an angry scowl, broad shoulders and a powerful build. And the people had no clue that they were in grave danger of having their very lives snuffed out, their village destroyed.

Tearing his eyes slowly away from the Nian, Dick walked around the carving a few times, scanning just about every inch. There was something else that had called him to stop at the exhibit but for what he had yet to find out. On his fourth trip around an imperfection in the marble holding up the carving caught his eye. Bending down to get a better look Dick had gotten the second surprise of the week.

Indented into the slab of marble on the lightest portion of the otherwise black marble was the pendant he wore around his neck. The dragon inlaid with its claws wrapped around a sake jug, the upside down silver fan, and two guardian lions on either side of the dragon with the swords in their mouths crossing in the back of the dragon.

"Beautiful isn't she?"

Whipping around all three males turned to see an elderly Asian male wearing a blue jumper leaning against a mop. A crocked almost toothless grin spread across his face that did nothing to sooth Dick's slightly faster than normal heart rate. It had been a long time since someone had snuck up on him. A quick glance to Wally and Roy was all Dick needed to know that he was not the only one whom had been caught off guard.

About to open his mouth and ask what the older male wanted, Dick stopped, noticing a growingly familiar tattoo on the males hand. It was a circular bud with a little crown at the top, sap seeping out of the middle, a flower with a darker middle sitting behind it. Both overlay the symbol of the sun, the characters for gunpowder running along his pointer finger.

Jade Sun...

**End Chapter**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: Do not own Young justice or the Justice League. They are property of DC Comics and their respective creators/writers.**

**_Last on Effects- _**

_**Tearing his eyes slowly away from the Nian, Dick walked around the carving a few times, scanning just about every inch. There was something else that had called him to stop at the exhibit but for what he had yet to find out. On his fourth trip around an imperfection in the marble holding up the carving caught his eye. Bending down to get a better look Dick had gotten the second surprise of the week.**_

_**Indented into the slab of marble on the lightest portion of the otherwise black marble was the pendant he wore around his neck. The dragon inlaid with its claws wrapped around a sake jug, the upside down silver fan, and two guardian lions on either side of the dragon with the swords in their mouths crossing in the back of the dragon.**_

_**"Beautiful isn't she?"**_

_**Whipping around all three males turned to see an elderly Asian male wearing a blue jumper leaning against a mop. A crocked almost toothless grin spread across his face that did nothing to sooth Dick's slightly faster than normal heart rate. It had been a long time since someone had snuck up on him. A quick glance to Wally and Roy was all Dick needed to know that he was not the only one whom had been caught off guard.**_

_**About to open his mouth and ask what the older male wanted, Dick stopped, noticing a growingly familiar tattoo on the males hand. It was a circular bud with a little crown at the top, sap seeping out of the middle, a flower with a darker middle sitting behind it. Both overlay the symbol of the sun, the characters for gunpowder running along his pointer finger.**_

_**Jade Sun...**_

**Continued**

**-xXx-**

"So whatever it is," Raquel said looking around the trashed studio apartment she found herself in, not having to wonder for long just who possibly could have done the damage. "It's somewhere in all of here?"

While Dick, Wally, and Roy had split up to go check out the museum the rest of them were tasked to find whatever other clue/note/item Ying had left to help them out. If there was any threat that he would have ended up targeted then Ying should have kept his nose down until whatever business was finished, Raquel thought to herself still taking in the room. Mattress slashed, bed frame overturned, dresser and table knocked over, all the cupboards opened including the fridge, some ripped off the hinges.

Working with Lee Travis, in Raquel's opinion, did not qualify for a low key job she continued to think as the amount of damage registered. Neither did taking on the masked persona of the Crimson Avenger's bodyguard, Rokuro. Just thinking about all the other possible ways things could have gone wrong gave the female a headache. Had he ever done any form of undercover work previously?

The rest of the Young Justice team had sat around the living room for at least two hours trying hard to figure out just what Ying had been trying to tell them in that vague yet lengthy letter. Who was the woman that he had talked to previously? And why had he waited till after nearly getting killed to tell them the truth? Surely he wouldn't have done so if he wasn't on his death bed…confessionals.

"Television," Raquel mumbled whilst rolling her eyes walking to her own corner of the studio apartment, letting out an annoyed puff of air. "You see this in bad television." [1] Part of her wanted to believe that all of this was just some well-planned and thought out hoax. Especially, now that it was more than just stopping the resurrection of some Giant monster that could destroy all of humanity. No it couldn't be that 'simple.'

They had finally figured out how to decode the letter thanks to Zatanna and her handy work. She had spoken a quick spell that revealed circled letters throughout the letter. Whatever sparked in the raven haired females mind to do that did not matter, Raquel was just glad that they were getting somewhere with all of this. Hopefully Rob-Dick….Robin and the others were doing a lot better.

That's how they all ended up in the Bio ship headed back to the city, destination Ying's apartment. His _very_ trashed apartment. Being the great team that they were Kaldur had still wanted to go over the apartment hoping that whatever the person whom ransacked the place for, was still there. The letter had yet to give them exactly what it was they should have been keeping their eyes open for, however. Typical.

Conner hated monkeys. Raquel could clearly now say she hated riddles with no answers. 'Why is a raven like a writing desk?' Yea…This was one of those scenarios.

"That's what the message said."

Brought out of her thoughts Raquel whipped her eyes over to the blonde female whom spoke before returning her attention to the room. "Riiiight."

"Let's just start looking," Artemis said exasperated at the other female. _Really?_ "The more time we take the less likely we'll be able to find whatever _it_ is." _Besides, with our luck someone might be on their way over right now_, she thought before moving to another side of the room.

"Whatever." Shrugging, Raquel moved to the far wall near the window staring in between Artemis and M'gann. This was going to be a long week.

**-xXx-**

Having ignored Artemis and Raquel, for the most part, Zatanna had begun her scan of Ying's apartment starting at the desk. It wouldn't be hard for her to scan through everything using her powers to right the table once again before sending all of the papers into her awaiting hands. The hard part came in trying to decipher just what he had written down on the many half sheets of paper.

Either they held no importance to the person, or peoples who ransacked the place, or they hadn't known how to read the characters just like she hadn't. No matter, it wouldn't hurt to bring them along. Perusing through the other papers Zatanna stopped on a small worn book of poetry, noted by the haiku on the front.

furuike ya

kawazu tobikomu

mizu no o to [2]

Not one to judge, Zatanna just didn't peg Ying for one to enjoy poetry. Unless the whole cover was a front, and there was some secret message hidden in the words. Flipping through the book Zatanna couldn't find anything wrong with it either but once again…she didn't know the language. Does he ever write in English? The young magician thought to herself before shuffling through the rest of the papers.

**-xXx-**

Kaldur scanned over the overturned bed frame and mattress, noting that it had been cut clean down the middle. Whomever had done this was pretty methodical in their search, messy, but methodical. It was just the 'what' in their search that held Kaldur's interest. Could they be after the same thing as the Young Justice or was there something that they had been missing the whole time thanks to Ying's less than forward notes.

Whatever it was though was important. Their teammate and friend depended on this, the world depended on this. They would not fail.

Carefully Kaldur flipped over the mattress after having went through the cut coming up empty other than the entrails of the bed. Moving the mattress against the wall, he proceeded to search the bedframe next taking into account that there were slight worn grooves on the floor just underneath. Going to the other side of the bed Kaldur grabbed a hold of the frame dragging it across the floor, peeking the interest of some of his team members before they went back to their own tasks.

Walking back over to the floor, now empty of a bedframe and its resounding shadow, Kaldur got down on his hands and knees to gain a better sight of the marred wood. There was something not right about the way the floor seemingly dipped in on a few of the boards but what really got the Atlantian thinking were was the tiny impression running perpendicular to the floor scratches and horizontal to the wall.

Standing up Kaldur turned his attention to that same wall moving his hands about it trying to feel for anything unusual, a catch, something. Nothing was out of place although…Looking from the wall where the impressions on the floor would be Kaldur mentally calculated that they were about the same distance on the floor compared to the height of the wall molding. Fingers prying Kaldur held back a smile as the wall gave way to a not so gentle tug.

**-xXx-**

Having made her way over the dresser, probably one of the few things not completely totaled M'gann searched the floor going through the discarded clothes on the floor figuring there may be something underneath one of the articles. What she found under a black button up may not have been what she was looking for but it was interesting to say the least.

On the ground was a plush rabbit, a life like snow rabbit with a yellow bow. Smiling at the stuffed toy, M'gann picked it up about to place it on the dresser when something else caught her eye. Broken glass?

Shuffling another shirt away from the area around her feet M'gann found the source of the glass. A broken picture frame, the glass smashed completely off of the wood. Three pictures lay on the ground, only one managing to stay inside.

Carefully picking up the pictures from the broken glass M'gann studied the floor for a moment longer realizing that they all came from the same small picture frame. Moving a bit away from the glass the Martian female flipped the first picture to its front, a warm smile gracing her features.

Sitting down underneath a tree was Ying, Sammy, and two other people who could have been the little girl's older brother and sister. Ying, Sammy, and the older female sat side by side laughing at something one of them had said, obviously at the expense of the only other male in the picture who did not seem pleased to say the least.

Ying genuinely looked happy in this picture, it being the first and probably only time M'gann had seen the male smile and mean it.

Flipping to the next picture it had to be sometime after the first one was taken. The unnamed male was smirking, a devious glint in his eyes as he was captured whispering something to Sammy, the little girl sharing the same glint. While that was going on the older female was holding Ying's attention talking to him about something the picture would not be able to reveal.

Seemingly in the middle of a word, Ying had paused wholly distracted by Sammy whom had her hands wrapped around his neck, planting a kiss to the older males cheek.

Turning over the picture M'gann read the back, a message written out in bubbly handwriting.

'To Ying

We know you said no pictures but mom just couldn't help it.

You should really smile more.

In a different hand writing were the words 'July 4th-Sammy, Jill, and Amari."

Taking one last look at the pictures, M'gann placed them carefully into her back pocket making a mental note to drop them off at the hospital when she got the chance. Obviously they had meant something to Ying if he had kept them, even going so far as to date and frame them.

**-xXx-**

Having checked all of there was to with the stove, and fridge, Conner had moved to the cupboards starting with the ones on the floor. From the looks of it whomever had done the mess was in a hurry, and he couldn't blame them. There was no telling when someone was going to come in to the apartment and find it like this, let alone them. There would be little to no explaining what they were doing.

Moving to the ones seemingly left at least on their hinges Conner found absolutely nothing, having gone through them at least five times already. Closing the cupboard Conner was about to move back to the beginning when he picked up something different with the way it sounded when closed versus the others that still held to their hinges. With narrowed eyes he opened the same cupboard yet again before closing it, slower this time. A small click sounded, letting the clone know that the drawer was now in fact closed but it was the softer click after which alerted him.

It was something that Conner was sure the others would have missed. Opening the cabinet yet again Conner scanned the sides of it with his thumb and pointer finger catching a part of the corner as it raised ever so slightly. Bingo.

Apart from nearly ripping the cupboard off its hinges to get at whatever was hidden in between the wood, Conner managed to slide a piece of the board out after noticing slight warn groves in the side, noting the track marks.

Placing his hand over the wood, Conner slid the piece out, quickly catching a sliver of paper that had slowly floated towards the ground.

It was a small piece of warn paper with coordinates on it. _Another clue? _

Calling the others over to him, it was only seconds before Kaldur took the proffered paper giving it a curious glancing over before handing it to M'gann. Maybe she should be able to find something on it and if not, there was always Zatanna.

"Does he _want_ us to help him?" Artemis growled out forcefully giving Kaldur back the paper before making her way to the door. This was by far the most annoying case she had worked on since…well…ever. If it hadn't have been about the possible safety of her younger friend than Artemis was pretty sure she'd have thrown in the towel with this whole ordeal a while ago.

Speaking of which the little tree monkey had a lot of explaining to do. Like what the hell he did with that picture on her first day of school. Artemis just couldn't believe that the whole time the blue eyed troll at the academy was in fact their dark, cackling, joke playing mini bat. It was hard to believe.

And that red headed green eyed jackleg had kept it all a secret? Granted, they were best friends so Wally was sure to know but come on. These things were kind of important…

Blue eyes traveled down to the other object in their team leaders hand. "What's that?"

"I found this in a hidden hole in the wall," Kaldur said revealing a folded up cloth, obviously surrounding something by the bulk in the middle. Tied off by a thick black cloth it was the only thing keeping the Young Justice from figuring out quickly what was inside it.

"Well what's inside it?" Artemis asked, her impatience being known to all.

"We'll find that out once we return to the mountain. Any longer and we could be risking it."

**-xXx-**

The hotel room was lavish, the space fit for a queen. Huge windows overlooking the city, king sized bed draped in only the finest bed spreads, fluffy wine colored carpets, gold accented walls and a bathroom the size of a master bedroom. One would never have thought the woman whom had paid for the penthouse suite was a well-known drug lord of her people.

Nor would they know of the meeting taking place at that very moment.

Opting to stand near the window Batman kept his gaze locked onto the two males standing on either side of the only woman in the room. Lady Lei. Current leader of the Jade Sun and at the moment, the only person the Caped Crusader could talk to who knew just what was going on along with any ways of stopping a major tragedy from happening. He would work with the woman for the time being. Anything after, however, was still in the air.

Lee Travis sat at the desk, his chair turned to face mostly Lady Lei as lounged most carefree on the edge of the bed. Cane resting against the desk, Fedora on his lap he waited for the young woman to speak. It was she, after all whom had called for them to meet her at the hotel. As a gentleman first, he would allow her the privilege of speaking…He did not know if Batman would give the same courtesy given the circumstances.

"Ying wasn't the smartest out of all of us," Lady Lei began, her piercing gaze set upon the oldest male in the room. "He wasn't the best strategist. It took him seven more years to learn what we did in just three. Even our little brother out shined him. No. What he could do was far different than what we needed in the Jade Sun."

"So you gave him up to the enemy."

"Enemy?" Lady Lei turned to Batman a deep frown upon her face. "You understand nothing of our ties."

"Well then I suggest you start speaking."

Raising a brow at the Dark Knights tone of voice to her Lady Lei did as suggested. As it were she was one, not in her territory and even with her two best body guards things would not work in her favor. Ying at the moment was her top priority. That, and bringing all of this business to a close once and for all.

"The Shadow Oni are hired assassins. Always have been. Technically if you want to go further they're blood runs through my veins just as much as the Jade Sun. Through history all three organizations once belonged to the same bloodline. It wasn't till after the first guardians of the souls were killed that the rift began.

"You see, the three siblings whom took up the organization after their father's health failed him, could no longer agree on how to go about keeping the pieces safe. And well…You can figure form there what happened next."

"Shadow, Sun, and East," Lee spoke piecing together Lady Lei's unspoken words. It was a heavy situation that must have taken years of strife and bad blood to split the family so much. Going so far as to even leave your country of origin…Or being forced to.

"There must have been a reason after all why you are still above ground." A backhanded compliment from the younger woman, Lady Lei continued with her tale. "Yes. A few years ago the only known item was stolen from us and Ying was sent to retrieve it by all means necessary. It took some time to track it down as you can see, my father himself had been working this whilst we were young. But he had other obligations as well and we all know how that can hinder an operation."

"You jeopardized your organization sending him over here."

"I knew very well that Ying was infiltrating my facility while over here…Feeding information to you. I simply gave him what information would meet your eyes. Everything you got Batman, is old news. Even that sample batch from Dante's factory. The files. All of it. If it meant him getting into your good graces then by all means I could take that small risk."

"Not much of a small risk if you went down," Lee Travis noted flecking a small piece of dirt off of his fedora. "Not all of that was planned."

"No, you are correct. I cannot see everything that is to occur, however, I was just hoping that Batman wouldn't hide completely behind my brother to do his dirty work." Sending the black clad male a challenging smirk Lady Lei sat a bit further back on the bed. "I'm pretty sure you could have done better on your own."

Not falling into her battle of wits Batman continued to hammer down the questions. "Why else was he sent over here?"

"There was a chance one of the guardian's offspring was in the states. One with an item. He was to retrieve it."

Batman's eyes narrowed. "Who was it?"

"Now if I say this Batman all of my cards would be on the table and I have seen none of yours. I want immunity. You get your information and the Eastern Snow Leopards. Anyone in my organization past or present do not get touched by the law, or your people for that matter."

"Their name," Batman growled out getting impatient with the woman.

"Im-mu-ni-ty," Lady Lei spoke up, annunciating each syllable.

"Would you risk the time we have now over something so petty?"

"Oh trust me, Mr. Travis," Lady Lei spoke flecking her eyes over to the aged male before returning them back to Batman. "This is no petty matter. Take it or leave it Batman but just know you need this information. Ying is my brother but I can be very cold hearted for the things that I want."

"Granted. Now their name."

"The child of Ou, MeiLi. She would have changed her name some time ago to Mary Grayson after getting married. Her son. Richard. You would know him well."

**End Chapter**

**[1]- borrowed form one of the best movies I've been introduced to thanks to TimeXgone23. Boondock Saints. Freaking love em. **

**[2]- A haiku written by Basho. Lose translation. "****old pond . . .a frog leaps in, water's sound."**


	27. Chapter 27

**Want to start this off by saying sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry and sorry again that it took me this long to pop out this baby. Lol. I've been working like crazy and trying to find my muse. Again. Found it. Like I said it's winding down. Filling in a lot of holes and making some as I go along. Have fun and enjoy. Once again thanx for sticking it out. **

**Grannieshufflez03.**

**Part 1**

**Last on EoBaW**

**Batman's eyes narrowed. "Who was it?"**

_**"Now if I say this Batman all of my cards would be on the table and I have seen none of yours. I want immunity. You get your information and the Eastern Snow Leopards. Anyone in my organization past or present do not get touched by the law, or your people for that matter."**_

_**"Their name," Batman growled out getting impatient with the woman.**_

_**"Im-mu-ni-ty," Lady Lei spoke up, annunciating each syllable.**_

_**"Would you risk the time we have now over something so petty?"**_

_**"Oh trust me, Mr. Travis," Lady Lei spoke flecking her eyes over to the aged male before returning them back to Batman. "This is no petty matter. Take it or leave it Batman but just know you need this information. Ying is my brother but I can be very cold hearted for the things that I want."**_

_**"Granted. Now their name."**_

_**"The child of Ou, MeiLi. She would have changed her name some time ago to Mary Grayson after getting married. Her son, Richard. You would know him well."**_

**-xXx-**

Lei was by far extremely impressed with Batman's deadpan expression. He was just about as stone faced as a Romanesque gargoyle, probably more-so. Annoyingly brilliant if she could say so herself. "You are not going to say anything? Nothing at all?" Smirking, Lei sat even further back onto her bed, regarding the caped male with a calculated stare. No doubt he was doing the same with her. "I am a little disappointed, honestly."

"How?"

Knowing that it had nothing to do with her little past statement, Lei cleared her throat. "I could tell you it is because I am just that amazing but really Batman," Lei spoke, playing with her short tresses. "You are not the only one who can work a computer. Times, dates, locations. Name it. To say nobody else figured it out beforehand. Well that is just a little oversight on their parts."

"Who is he to you?"

"Now Batman. I have already revealed to you-"

"You became the head of your organization over seven years ago," Batman spoke over the woman sounding as fed up as the Dark Knight could. "Right after the _untimely_ death of your brother, GuoSheng. The rightful phoenix heir of the Jade Sun. In those seven years you murdered over 27 other leaders within your domain only losing twelve of your own soldiers. All of them had been at some point or another friends of your father, business partners, close. You could have gotten the items at any time. Why after? Why now?"

The room seemed to drop a few degree's as Lei stared at Batman, her face and body as rigid as an oak tree during a storm. Strong but ready to snap at any given moment, and Lee would hate to see when that happened, not even the thought of their being an if. "If you are implying that I would murder my own brother for power Batman-"

"You would let your younger brother die if it meant getting to those items would you not?"

"Has anyone ever told you, you pry too much into other people's affairs Batman?" Lei relaxed visibly although her eyes remained as frozen as arctic ice. Yes. He was every bit of the word frightening. Lei's body shivered, absolutely thrilled by the male before her. All the possible ways she could possibly kill him running though her mind. Still ahead in the race, it wouldn't be long till the hound caught up with the fox. Just would Batman keep to his end of the bargain was the question. Only time would tell.

"Sheng was gunned down by one of those dogs. I just took the liberty of getting rid of him and his entire faction," Lady Lei spoke as if she were discussing the weather and not the blood of victims on her hands despite the anger resonating just under the surface. "The rest were no better. Animals out for the best hunt at the time. To them the items are no more than a pissing contest. To my family it is so much more than that. They had to go."

Taking a deep breath, more for continuing her statement than for settling her nerves, Lady Lei folder her hands in front of her putting on the air of nothing more than being the immaculate hostess. "As for why _now_. To protect my godson of course."

**-xXx**-

Dramatic Pause….Okay.

-**xXx-**

If he were anyone but Batman, the caped crusader would be picking his jaw up off of the ground. But he was in fact the one and only, so keeping the air of normalcy, normal for the bat anyway, he just crossed his arms tighter over his chest deepening his scowl. Not letting onto when something affected him was one of the biggest plays in Batman's extensive books of brooding on and off the job, and he would be damned to show this woman's words had actually affected him. And they had. 'Godson.'

"Arranged marriage to bring the families back together." This had come from Lee who for the majority of the talk remained quiet, opting to absorb as much information as possible before speaking. It was a far leap, even for him to guess this, but there were only so many possibilities he could go with following just how and why Lei even knew about the boy…Who seemed to be young Robin anyway.

Sparing a short glance at Batman, the younger males rigid stance, well, more rigid than normal, proved that her words had gotten to the man, even if the Fox herself didn't know. And why wouldn't it. This was posing to be something deeper that Lee wasn't too sure he'd be able to completely handle. Top priority. Keeping his idiot assistant alive long enough so that he himself wouldn't have to bury the young male. Lee had to burry a child once before, he'd be damned if he had to do it again.

"Right again ," Lei said giving the older male an appraising nod bringing him back to the conversation at hand. These two were quite amusing. "We were finally coming to terms with past transgressions. The Sun and Oni of course. So what better way than to have two Phoenix children marry? Of course she was also a Guardian which just made the match fit. MeiLi and my brother courted for some time. He truly loved her and we became best friends."

"But there was someone else she had her eye on."

Face darkening for just a moment, Lei spoke. "Not for lack of trying on my brothers part, yes. A John Grayson." Batman did not miss the slight bitter tone Lei's voice took on saying the 'deceased male's name, her gaze growing dark. "Swings in from a circus and sweeps her off her feet, figuratively and literally speaking of course."

"Hard to think GuoSheng would just allow that to happen." Batman pushed when Lei paused.

"Truthfully Batman," Lei spoke crossing her legs. "My brother encouraged the two lovebirds. Behind our parents backs of course. He did not want the life he was destined to live for MeiLi. No matter how much he cared for her. She was always a free spirited woman. Having someone else's blood on her hands. He could not see that. My brother cared enough to want her to be happy. Even if that meant in the arms of another man. He was kind like that. Compassionate in ways that have eluded me wholly. A lot could be said for the way he died."

"The items? Book?"

_Where does that all fit?_ Lei heard the rest of the unasked question just as clear as if she asked it herself. First matter at hand, however. "What book?"

"Nian."

So her suspicions had been confirmed. "Have you read it?"

"It was in the possession of my ward before Ying confiscated it. No."

"Good. I am not sure even you would be strong enough to handle what those pages hold." Her tone unkind, it was not at all condescending to either listener. "It was passed on to MeiLi by her father. I am pretty sure you received some of that knowledge from Ying."

"Brief statement on its contents. Nothing more. Was her father also the one to have given her one of the items?"

"She asked for full possession of it from her uncle. He agreed it should be in her care not realizing that MeiLi was leaving with it along with John…and her unborn son." Standing up, Lei walked over to the window looking out over the city into the night life below. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end knowing that she was bearing her back to the enemy, even when right now they were friendlies. Life had hardened her to automatically know the difference between the two. This instinct was nothing that could be turned off. "By then, John had become a permanent fixture in her life, her duties, as a Guardian pushed to the back of her mind."

"At some point they were followed."

"Mongolia," Lei spoke sparing Lee a glance. _How does his mind work?_ She wondered trying to piece together just how his mind jumped and pieced together unsaid facts. "John had left the circus for the time to be with MeiLi. As we all know circus is family. Sure for some it is okay to leave, settle down with that one true love. But when you are betraying that family to gain another" Lei let the sentence hang.

"What were they planning?" Batman asked not liking the tone in where this story was headed.

"John and his brother?" Lei asked fully turning now to face Batman and answer his question her eyes blazing now with fire. "To steal the items from our families, and kill the Guardians. Nobody knows how they found out about it, although it is speculated their fortune teller was the culprit. They did not expect for John to fall in love with his target. What turned into a slow ploy to get the information on the items became a courtship."

"Yet they still ran."

"Dorian."

Eyes flashing, Lei nodded her head tightly at the one name Batman had uttered. "John's brother," she refused to speak his name with her breath, "would not stop at knowing he had failed. We found out all of this by one of our soldiers. He overheard a conversation between John and that vile creature. Naturally we made to take care of the threat."

"Her uncle along with an apprentice went after them. GuoSheng never knew what was going on with Johns little plan. It would have broken him. Whether John had changed his mind or not, GuoSheng let MeiLi be near this man who only wanted to do her harm. I could spare him that much."

"You ordered it."

"I am really starting to regret wanting to kill you Mr. Travis," Lei said flashing her gaze to the male before returning to the window. "Almost."

"Against your own best friend," Lee said ignoring the young woman's words. What else would he call their interactions? Lady Lei's brother was practically engaged at a time to this woman. A close bond was bound to form, as close a bond as a fox could have with a Robin. Vaguely, Lee wondered if her brother's death had been the turning point of Lei's attitude, not fully believing anyone could have been born so cold hearted it would be a shock if their heart wasn't made out of galvanized steel.

"Family security. But it did not have to come down to that. Like I said, John had changed his mind. It was more on obtaining his brothers whereabouts. And we would gain that by any means necessary."

Knowing full well the implications behind Lei's words Batman pressed on. "But it didn't work."

"He slipped away."

"And so he wants to destroy you along with your organizations."

"Correct."

"Why should we believe you?"

At this, Lady Lei turned back around, her eyes flashing with an emotion that Batman could not place. "It is not like you find my words false now, so stop pretending."

"So for him," Lee asked tapping his cane on the ground. "Why wait?"

Striding back over to the bed, Lady Lei slowly sat down, crossing her legs yet again. "Opportune time? Really I do not know, nor wish to figure how his mind works. All I know is that Dorian already had a hand in killing one of my brothers. He might as well have pulled the trigger himself. I will not let him touch another. Nor will I let him touch my Godson. He has already gotten close enough more than once."

Tony Zocco, Batman thought, a new wave of anger washing over him. He relaxed his clenched fists, not realizing he had done so until he felt Lee's eyes upon him.

"If it were not for you Batman," Lei spoke, breaking Batman's thoughts, "My godson would be dead. Thank you. That much I can tell you for keeping him…relatively safe."

Backhanded compliment as it was, Batman would still not take it. There were many holes in this woman's story that Batman had yet to fill. "How do we deal with him?"

"Kill him. How else?"

Throwing aside Lady Lei's tendencies to go for the more violent route, he could really see the old Ying in this woman, Lee cleared his throat before continuing. Lee could not say he didn't agree with this choice, however. Family meant everything to him as well and protecting that meant at all cost. The small part of Lee that had a moral code knew that murder was not the way to handle the situation. Which side would win out, the older male wasn't sure. All he knew was either way, he would be able to live with either decision. "One of the young league members informed me Dorian was planning to kill Ying in three days time. Now two, if my old watch still serves the purpose of telling the correct time."

"He will not," Lei spoke, her words sure. "Not until he gets what he wants. Had that snake wanted my brother dead he would be already. It was only to get me here. And it worked. What he did not expect was for me to ask for help."

And yet why would you? Batman found himself wondering knowing that the reasons for which she spoke, although valid. Did not begin to breach the surface of why she had come to them. Expose herself and her organization further. There were a lot of games being played and Batman was on neither team.

**Part 2**

**-xXx-**

**~Flash back~**

_**"Beautiful isn't she?"**_

_**Whipping around all three males turned to see an elderly Asian male wearing a blue jumper leaning against a mop. A crocked almost toothless grin spread across his face that did nothing to sooth Dick's slightly faster than normal heart rate. It had been a long time since someone had snuck up on him. A quick glance to Wally and Roy was all Dick needed to know that he was not the only one whom had been caught off guard.**_

_**About to open his mouth and ask what the older male wanted, Dick stopped, noticing a growingly familiar tattoo on the males hand. It was a circular bud with a little crown at the top, sap seeping out of the middle, a flower with a darker middle sitting behind it. Both overlay the symbol of the sun, the characters for gunpowder running along his pointer finger.**_

_**Jade Sun...**_

"_Such a shame really," the janitor said continuing to walk into the showroom, his voice peppered lightly with a once heavily accented tongue. "They should have left it alone." Having not once made eye contact with Dick or the others, the older male proceeded to place his hand on the carving right at the Nian's back slowly moving it to the base of the podium right to where the indentation resembling Dick's necklace lay in stone. _

"_The Nian or the statue?" Wally, ever the talker was the first one to break out of the slight daze he and the others had fallen under due to the unexpected intrusion. From the looks of it, and they were standing in a museum, meaning the statue was in fact something that had been man made, sure, but long before even the older janitor had been thought of, Wally was positive. It was either made out of the best non-eroding rock known to man…or, and he dreaded to say…magic. _

_Light brownish gray eyes long dulled with age and cataracts stared at the green eyed male, blinking owlishly down at him through rounded glasses. The janitor, who's name, last anyway by the tag on his jumper was Wu, turned to the youngest giving him a long glancing over before speaking. "Both. "_

"_What do you mean?" This time it had been Dick whom spoke up, curious as to what the male had meant. The statue he could deal with, nobody really liked their possessions moved and placed on display for all to see, even if it was a historical teaching. But the Nian? That creature came down and destroyed homes, lives. Why would they have left it alone? "If anything they-"_

"_If anything they what young one?" Wu said locking his greying gaze with Dick's vibrant blue effectively shutting him up. Roy and Wally looked to one another, slightly gaping, noticing that it would be the first time anyone other than Batman had been able to glare and effectively stop the mini-bat from talking. This was freaky. Roy took a small step forward, now slightly in front of Dick as he grilled Wu. The older male would better take precaution for the next thing out of his mouth. _

_Seeing the over-protective move made by the taller red-head, Wu smiled a nearly toothless grin before continuing to talk, seemingly not at all put off. "Killed a man eating beast, saved villagers and humankind? History is always written in the eye of the winner."_

"_How about you tell us what's going on…Sir. Being upfront would help." Roy growled out all but getting annoyed with Wu. He wasn't telling them anything of importance and what the older male did say, was in cryptic talk. It was down-right annoying. _

_Shaking his head, Wu turned his back to the three males, staring at the statue, a distant look in his eyes before taking off his glasses to clean them against his jumper sleeve. "Rage is a powerful thing, brought on by the many lessons of life. Do any of you know of the horrors one can go through, the scars left at having your family ripped from you? Being unable to do anything but watch it happen" Turning to the young hero's, Wu looked on as each of them had a different array of expressions on their faces. _

"_They did that." Wally stated catching onto what Wu was trying to convey. There were many stories and tales in just about every culture of vengeful beings and souls. Roaming around causing mayhem left and right, some setting off natural disasters, other's going after the perpetrators outright. If this creator was in fact real, which so many people believed it to be, then it wasn't that farfetched to believe it could have caused all this damage._

"_Creatures of legend as you can now see, are not at all just tales spun by drunken sailors and hardworking men high on drugs and alcohol. They are as real as you and me. There was a time when the Nian had a family, a mate, and a child. All ripped away by human greed."_

_Robin's eyes grew wide at the admittance. "Why would they…What did they want from it?"_

"_The NIan was once revered as a deity in ancient times. Celebrated for its power and compassion for the living it governed over. Its gentle nature was something that was looked upon in times of heavy strife between the people of the lands. But it was power, the Nian's power that fed into the people's greed. _

_But like every god they are questioned, feared, hated." Walking back over to his mop, Wu took hold of the handle dunking it into the pale of water before proceeding to wring it out. The slushing noise of the soaked mop head hitting the tiled floor was the only sound resonating around the four occupants of the room before Wu spoke again. _

"_They wanted the power the Nian had, but such a gentle creature would never be turned for something so destructive. But man knows how man works. And man is no different from beast, as much as some want to believe."_

"_So they killed the Nian's family. It gets mad and goes berserk on everyone. They can't control it and kill it…Seal it. Whatever."_

"_Precisely," Wu said with a clap. "Rage has a way of holding onto a soul. Even had they just killed the beast, that rage would manifest itself into something else. Something more malicious."_

"_A demon."_

"_Close enough," Wu said after a moment to the shorter redhead before continuing with his mopping. "But ah," Wu said ceasing in his administrations about the room, holding up his middle finger, missing his pointer just at the knuckle connecting to his hand. It's all just a legend anyway." _

_About to speak, Dick was cut off by Wu, slightly irritated by the fact it was not the first time he had been interrupted. _

"_You lot might want to hurry it along," Wu spoke up leaning on his mop for a moment before walking back over to the bucket. "Museum's going to close soon."_

_Looking down at his watch, Dick would have to agree with the older male. It was nearly ten o'clock. Four minutes to be exact. Too into talking and listening to the story being told, they had missed the final calls for the museum closing, security by now walking around to pick up any stragglers no doubt. _

"_Hold on a second." Stopping in their tracks, Dick, Wally, and Roy turned around watching wearily as the Asian male stared at them, a contemplative look in his eyes. About to ask what it was that Wu had wanted, the older male voiced his thoughts. "You are the child of a Phoenix are you not?"_

_Dick's body went rigid at those words, pulled back to what he had read in his mother's diary. She and her brother had been referred to as Phoenix children. Whatever that meant, Dick had no clue, his mother never going into any detail (at least from what he read of the diary). _

"_Maybe I have you confused with someone else," Wu continued a couple of seconds later when Dick had remained quiet. Placing his hand to his chin in thought the older male silently scrutinized Dick with his cloudy gaze. "Don't think I do though," he finally said, slowly moving over the tiles near the statue with his mop. Turning his back yet again Wu picked up his mopping, mumbling underneath his breath. "The creators are the Sun. Shinning a light to pave the way for future generations. Given life from that light are Dragons, soaring to new heights, eliminating the unseen darkness. Phoenix, birthed from the flames of the Dragon, shall wipe out all that threatens. The children of the Phoenix shall Blaze to power through the ashes of their parents."_

_Standing there for a moment longer, watching the janitor clean up around the mostly empty gallery room, humming away a nameless tunen, Dick, Wally, and Roy walked out, down the stairs, and out of the museum into the city night air. None of them had spoken since the last words Wu had uttered, all with their thoughts on points of the night. _

**-xXx-**

Dick turned a black oni mask around in his hands trying to find anything that would lead them closer to ending the ordeal with the Nian. It had been what Kaldur found wrapped up in the cloth in the wall of Ying's apartment. It was very similar to the one that his mother had mentioned in her diary and the one Artemis had spoken of with the Shadow Oni she had fought. Whilst the majority was black, the area around the mouth had been painted white, large red curved fangs almost the same color as blood. The eyebrows and mustache had been done in purple fur which when turned in certain directions had looked black. Over all it would have looked extremely scary…Had he maybe been five.

Placing the mask down on the table, Dick proceeded to pick up the piece of paper Conner had found in the cupboard, partially wondering just what was with Ying and his hiding spots. They had come up completely empty on everything and anything the coordinates could have been. Even with Zatanna trying every spell she could think of none of it had been enough. Maybe when Ying woke up they could finally talk to him about it. That was if Dorian hadn't gotten to him first. If they had anything to do with it, he wouldn't. There was a lot the older male had to answer for including the truth of it all…Had he known his parents? Until then all Dick had was his mother's diary and a ton more pages to translate.

Then there was the old janitor at the museum, Wu. He had shared a lot with them about the Nian but could they really trust him? He was a member, current or not, of the Jade Sun and from the looks of it, Dick didn't even know if he could trust them fully either. But what was there not to? When it came to spirit's not all of them where man eaters just for the fun of it, some having been pushed to those extremes, Revenge. And if the Nian's family had been killed then why not?

There was still a lot of holes in the story. Much of what could be filled by thinking it through and talking with the team. That is what they were there for and personally, Dick was beginning to get tired of doing everything on his own. Wally and Roy had proved that enough, showing him that three heads were better than one. Sure he was a genius, but Wally was by far brighter than all of them gave him credit for, and Roy…Besides being older he had more life experience than either one of them…On most levels anyway.

Staring at the paper for a few more minutes, Dick placed it down next to the mask before throwing his head back into the cushions. Looking over to his left he let out a small chuckle. Wally and Roy were conked out on the other sofa, Wally's legs having found their way over Roy's lap. Both males had their heads thrown back, mouths open and snoring. The other members of the team had made their way to their respective rooms in the mountain just a little over an hour ago Dick thinking maybe he should have as well.

It had been a while since he had gotten to sleep at a somewhat reasonable time although twelve o'clock would have been pushing it, even for him. It was just a little weird though, Batman hadn't gotten back to him after he had sent the older bat a message thirty minutes ago. It could very well be that he was just out on a mission but with the way things had been going…He wouldn't mind Bruce texting him back…Just this once.

Rolling his eyes at his own dorkiness, all Wally and Uncle Barry's fault of course, Dick closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. He would have all of tomorrow to figure out things with the team. Till then he needed some shut eye.

**Extra**

**-xXx-**

Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep….Beep

_Annoying._ That's the first thought that came to mind as the only occupant in a stark white and pristine hospital room opened tired brown eyes, the sound slowly becoming a comforting reminder of many things. Squeezing them shot, Ying let out a small groan, face mask fogging up, still getting used to the barrage of overhead lights, too bright on any occasion, especially with his persistent headache that wouldn't let up even for the amount of morphine he had coursing through his veins for other numerous wounds.

Closing his eyes, Ying took a deep breath, well, as deep a breath as he could, his lungs still not fully healed, before cracking them open yet again. It had been a little under three weeks since the day at the carnival. Seventeen days to be exact. Twelve of those days he had spent in a coma, three till he had actually stayed awake long enough to talk to the doctors, already knowing well his condition, he had been there when he had gotten shot… Knew how close to death he had been. It didn't take Lee or the doctors telling him to figure that out. Hadn't been the first time although now…Now that he had people to protect, people who he really cared for, and in fact cared about him. It was…nice. The first time in a while Ying was actually grateful to be alive. Chest swelling for a completely different reason, not to do with the pain from his many bullet wounds, Ying closed his eyes yet again taking a deep breath, letting the air from his mask wash into his lungs and calm him down. Wasn't until yesterday that he actually found the energy to say more than one word sentences, finding his voice to be a bit scratchy and muffled, no thanks to the mask.

Ying was alone for the moment. Not many times since he woke up could Ying find himself alone these days. If not for Lee sitting in the only chair in the room throwing insults left and right, then Fiore and her children would be there to visit. If not, then it was Black Canary, showing her concern in ways that he was still getting used to when it came to others. Then it was the team. They had been by yesterday a few hours before visiting times were over, Ying knowing there where many questions they had wanted to ask but out of courtesy had not.

Oh, Roy and Raquel were seconds from grilling him the moment they had walked into the room, only stopping when Kaldur had glared at them. Really Ying wouldn't have minded answering any questions they would have figuring they knew more about him than he would like them to know. Especially with them going through his already ransacked apartment. Tilting his head a bit, Ying was able to make out the pictures sitting in a new frame that M'gann had bought. He'd really have to thank the Martian female chuckling at the card they had made and signed.

The chuckle was short lived as his mind was brought to other things. Bringing his hand to his face, Ying stared at the tattoo, once hidden by gloves and long sleeves for years, now open to the world and all the prying eyes. Long tendrils of cherry blossom branches ran from his elbow to mid forearm, petals swirling down towards his wrist ending in the iconic symbol of his clan. A symbol meaning that not only was he Jade Sun, but part of the Empire and ultimately one of the phoenix children.

Lady Lei.

Giving a heavy sigh, Ying watched the mask fog up before closing his eyes the weariness his body still seemed to hold catching up to him slowly. Really, Ying didn't want to think about it. Later he would. The fact that his older si…that Lady Lei hadn't even stopped by to see him should have hurt. If he had been anyone else, Ying was sure he would be. But he wasn't. They weren't. He had failed yet again in doing a job given to him by his Lady. The small fact that the older woman had taken pity, allowing him to live afterwards, was grace enough, even for him. He couldn't even die properly. The only thing Ying could do after disgracing her. Get strong enough to continue with the job and finish, correctly. That meant going after Dorian and-

"You think too much." Ying hadn't noticed the door open and close, his discomfort at being startled only visible by the slightly quickened pace of the heart monitor, before relaxing on seeing who it was. Lee. The older male shuffled into the room, ever present fedora in his hand not latched onto his walking cane which had become another permanent fixture on seeing the avenger. Voice naturally gruff, Ying could hear the soft undertone that most would miss when it came to the fifty-plus year old male.

So two could play things game. "You look like shit," Ying mumbled through the mask not knowing how much could really be heard correctly though the breathing contraption, managing a smirk at Lee's slightly displeased frown. His voice was still unpleasantly scratchy, but he refused the water sitting just on the small table on the other side of the bed. Talking took more out of him than thinking did. And he was pretty sure Lee knew that. The jackass.

"You're clearly one to talk," Lee said trying and failing to hide the smile fighting its way onto his face past the scowl. Placing his cane against the bed, Lee moved back over to the other side of the room moving the chair closer to the bed before sitting down heavily, his body starting to catch up to his age and extra-curricular job.

"I'm going to be right here," Lee said giving Ying's leg a gentle squeeze before leaning back into the chair. Ying raised an eyebrow at that, not at all getting what the older male was talking about. Of course he wou-thought cut off by a yawn. Oh…Narrowing his eyes Ying blinked a few times silently thinking somehow Lee had something to do with his sudden drowsiness, slowly losing his battle against sleep.

Rolling his eyes, his last shot at showing how annoying Lee could be, Ying allowed a tired smile to grace his features before closing his eyes permitting his bodies need for sleep to wash over him completely. In no time at all he was asleep, chest rhythmically moving up and down in a steady manner. By far this was the most at peace Lee had seen the male in the past few days. Lee just hoped it stayed peaceful. The past few nights had been a nightmare, literally and figuratively, Ying almost flat lining yet again, three times, do to extensive night terrors he had obviously and thankfully yet to remember.

Fiddling with his fedora a lot of thoughts ran through the old males mind. Dorian had not held up to his threat against Ying. That much was certain as no one had seen nor heard from the male since that faithful day. Many would have just thought the fortune teller had gotten wise and left back to wherever he had crawled from. Not him. You didn't get as old as Lee was in his line of work, and think that green. The male was biding his time. For what, was the true question.

Shrugging off his jacket, Lee expertly placed it on the back of the chair without having to move too much before resuming his earlier position. Watching Ying sleep for a little while longer, Lee began to doze off himself. The gentleman was almost asleep a few minutes later before the sound of the door clicked open. Peeling open an eye it narrowed when no voice was heard to accompany the shoes clicking on the hard floor bringing a suspicious wave around Lee.

Having reached for his cane it was already too late, a blunt object connected with the back of his skull sending Lee into a world of darkness.


	28. Chapter 28

**So it's been….Too long since I've updated. Lost inspiration for a moment and it's slowly coming back to me. Between that the usual, work and work, being sick, and more work. Hopefully it won't be too long till this is finished so thank you all who have continued to stick with me. See you at the finish. **

**Last on EoBaW**

**Shrugging off his jacket, Lee expertly placed it on the back of the chair without having to move too much before resuming his earlier position. Watching Ying sleep for a little while longer, Lee began to doze off himself. The gentleman was almost asleep a few minutes later before the sound of the door clicked open. Peeling open an eye it narrowed when no voice was heard to accompany the shoes clicking on the hard floor bringing a suspicious wave around Lee.**

**Having reached for his cane it was already too late, a blunt object connected with the back of his skull sending Lee into a world of darkness.**

**-xXx-**

It was the beeping of machines that once again roused Ying from his sleep, the feeling of someone else being in the room hitting his dulled senses. Eye's sluggish to open the male ran through all the possibilities of who it was before settling on one, his muddled mind remembering a cane, snarked words, and a fedora. Opening his eyes Ying was not met with the older male whom had graced him with his presence before he fell asleep but with a much hated face.

"Lee, you-" Ying stopped, his eyes narrowing at the male who was not his boss sitting in the chair Lee had just been occupying when he had fallen asleep. "Dorian…" Even though Ying's voice was weak, scratchy from lack of use, the pure rage in that one word was prominent. Much so that Dorian swore he could see the beast itself sitting right at the prone male's feet. Even so he had to smirk. Here lay Lei's most treasured dog, alone and unprotected, like a deer trapped in a bear trap. How. Very. Lovely.

"Didn't think you would remember me," Dorian said uncrossing his legs to stand in one smooth movement a smirk making its way onto his face. He could relax. Lee was…preoccupied, Lei wasn't anywhere near with her guard dogs. It was just him, and the child. "It's been a while hasn't it, Rentetsu?" Walking over to the heart monitor, he proceeded to shut off the machines including the one providing oxygen, ripping the mask from Ying's face, brown slightly unfocused eyes watching Dorian's every move hardened into a hate filled glare.

"The...the hell you-"

"Save what little breath you have Ren, or is it Ying-Xue?" Pulling up the chair closer still to the bed Dorian sat on it backwards staring at the susceptible male as he did nothing but glare at the fortune teller. "Really I can't even tell what to call you now a day. Oh, to answer your unasked question, however, the old man won't be joining us for the moment. Bathroom break."

Dorian waited for Ying's reaction not realizing his mistake till he was on the ground with an aching cheek. _Did this kid just launch himself at me?_ Dorian asked himself before reversing their position to straddle the younger male pinning him down. It didn't take much as Ying was by far too weak to do anything, else, having spent whatever energy he had, breathing marred with wheezing in between. Blood was trickling out of his arm where the IV ripped from his skin, along with specs of the crimson liquid soaking through his bandages and hospital gown.

What the hell did Dorian do to Lee? "Y…You bastard." All Ying could see was red. How dare this man come here and hurt Lee? Lee…He had to make sure that the old man was okay. The coot couldn't last for a few days without getting himself into trouble and what was he doing? Lying on his ass. Once more, the soul reason he was in the hospital was just a few hairs breath away and he could do nothing. Not a damn thing. _Disgraceful._

"Did that strike a chord?"

Wanting to respond, threaten the male, at least curse him, Ying was finding it harder and harder to breathe. His vision blurred around the edges, darkness crept up as his struggle turned from Dorian to staying awake. He had to make sure the old man was alright.

"Oh, no no no," Dorian said tapping Ying on the cheek rather roughly bringing what little focus Ying had back to him. "You're going to want to stay awake for this." Leaning down further Dorian whispered into Ying's ear reveling in the small hitch of breath that was accompanied by widened eyes. Smirking Dorian proceeded to pull out a book from the breast of his jacket.

Brown eyes locked onto the worn tome, for the fifth time in two weeks Ying's heart stopped. Ie…No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

"It's over."

No. "NI ta ma de."

"Not even in your dreams little one," Dorian chuckled before getting up. Walking around Ying's form he glanced back letting out an amused puff as the male had somehow gotten on his hands and knees, his body shaking like a leaf in a thunderstorm. It was slightly scary. The kid's resilience. Dorian would like to see that fire die out.

"Y…you…d-de-mon…"

Striding back over to Ying, Dorian bent down taking the young male into a hug marveling at the fact he had no strength to even push him away. "Oh, how easy it would be." Chuckling mirthlessly Dorian waited till Ying's exhaustion caught up with him the male going limp in strong arms. "Till next time."

Smirking, Dorian got up from the floor standing over the unconscious male. Dorian was so close to victory he could taste it. As easy as it would be to just kill the kid now, Dorian would wait. He would wait till Lei was around to witness it all happen.

Her emotions would be the death of her, the Jade Sun, and the Shadow Oni. Personally he would like to see if the legends were true. Phoenix's reborn from their ashes. Even so all legends had to die. There were other ways to get rid of the Snow Leopards, they were by far less witty than their counterpart. More in number, however. Vaguely he wondered if it would be like conquering livestock. Once the head was gone would the others follow?

**-xXx-**

"What happened?"

At the cave Black Canary was surrounded by the Young Justice team plus Roy all of whom wanted answers on just what was going on. By the look of her face and the tone of her voice after they had gotten the initial call to gather it wasn't lost on any of them that something was up. Now it was just a matter of finding out what as they had rounded on the Justice League member as she entered the cave.

"Lee and Ying where attacked last night at the hospital. Now before you start," Black Canary said holding up her hands for the younger hero's to stop in their tracks. "They both are okay. Lee just has a slight concussion and Ying had to get his stitches redone but other than that they are both okay."

"Dorian." It wasn't a question as Roy lent against the wall his attention solely on Black Canary who confirmed his suspicions with a solemn head nod.

"How did he get passed security?"

"What did he want?"

Black Canary looked between Zatanna and Artemis trying to figure out which of the questions to answer first. Which one would have them running out of the mountain slower. "At the moment it was just Lee watching Ying. Lady Lei and her bod guards were away at the time of the incident. And as far as what Dorian wanted we have our suspicions but until then we aren't going to disclose anything."

"What do you mean 'not going to disclose anything with us?" This time it had been Conner who spoke up, the clone not at all liking Canary's chose of words. A quick glance over to M'gann let the male know that she too had picked up on the words the older heroine failed to mention. They had been taken off the mission without so much as a thought or word in edgewise.

"I think we've proved enough that we're more than capable of handling this mission," Artemis bit out coming to the same conclusion Conner had.

"This is more than just letting you guys prove yourselves capable of completing a difficult mission," Black Canary sniped silencing the younger hero's. Her gaze upon Dick she continued to speak, the room other than her voice silent of all noise. "Up until recently we thought we knew what the mission statement was. That isn't so clear now and to keep you all safe Batman and the rest of the founding members feel it necessary to relieve you of this mission. Which means you as well Roy."

About to open his mouth on how he wasn't part of the league, young or otherwise Roy snapped his mouth shut. Between the look Canary was giving him and the promise he had made months back to Batman the older red head could do nothing but comply. Outwardly that was. A quick glance to his left at Kaldur let him know that the Atlantean male was thinking the same thing. They planned to see this through to the end. With or without the approval of the League.

If the league thought they could bully them out of a mission after all of their hard work then they weren't as smart as they claimed to be.

With one final warning to stay put Black Canary turned on her heel and departed from the cave, no doubt on her way to the Watch Tower. With the case of eavesdropping last time it was a wonder the League hadn't thought of doing it before, Dick thinking either Batman was losing his touch or his newfound trust in them had been shot to hell with that stunt.

Waiting a few more seconds as to make sure no one else was coming back Dick looked from one friend to the other before nodding his head.

**-xXx-**

The air was crisp, waves splashing up onto the shore as the wind blew gently tousling Dick's hair. It was the only place they could talk without the fear of being listened in on especially with how paranoid Bruce could be, and everyone knew how paranoid he could be. Even outside they had opted to stay at least a few feet away from the cave less there were camera's put on the rock surface feeling the older hero's had maybe gotten just slightly smarter in handling them. Either that or they were giving the Justice League too much credit.

"He could have killed Lee and Ying." It was Raquel who had spoken first, her hands crossed over her chest, contemplative look upon her face. It was one of the few thoughts that they had all shared between them, the fact that two people could have been lost and nobody was around to help. Lee, despite being a man of action was in no way of shape to take on someone who wanted to do him harm let alone his partner who had been reduced to a hospital bed.

"He had them by themselves and yet-"

"He didn't," Conner cut the female off his own thoughts racing trying to figure out just what was going on. It was true that Dorian had left the two crime fighters alive but for what reason? There had to be something that they were missing.

"Why?"

This question was asked by Wally who had begun to pace back and forth across the sand, slower than normal as if taking into consideration the others in his wake. There was no point in kicking up sand in everyone's faces, especially when they were trying to figure out something as pressing as just what was going on. Besides. The last time he had done that he nearly ended up neck deep in the sand. Not a pleasant experience.

"Why he didn't finish the job?"

Shaking his head at M'gann's words Wally voiced his thoughts taking a pause in his steps before continuing. "Why did he attack at all? He's already got the head Jade Sun where he wants them if that is in fact what he's after. Near one location. Easier to pick them off. "

Picking up where his best friend left off Dick spoke next, the first words he had said in quite some time. "He either wants something they have, or has something of theirs in his possession we don't know about." Rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation Dick took off his glasses before proceeding to rub his eyes replacing them shortly after. Regardless of the others now knowing who he was Dick still wore his glasses the majority of the time around them , out of sheer force of habit if nothing else. Well that and Bruce still didn't know he broke one of his biggest codes.

This man Dorian was definitely unpredictable and the only people whom knew how he operated where either in the hospital or nowhere the team could actually get in contact with at the moment.

"But what do they have that-"

"The book," Dick cut through as the pieces finally started to click in together. How could he have not seen that sooner? That would at least explain why the male had shown himself, even if it had been after his empty threat.

Catching on to what the male was saying Kaldur's eye brows rose in realization. "It wasn't anywhere in his apartment when we searched it, I completely forgot about it." _Especially after finding what we did_, the male thought to himself before bringing his attention back to the matter at hand.

"What book?"

Turning to Artemis whose stance was similar to Raquel's with her arms crossed Kaldur cleared up the confusion that the blonde seemed to be hiding rather well. "When we first started working together with Ying, Dick gave him a book."

"That ratty looking thing."

"Yea."

"So Dorian has it now and what?" Zatanna asked throwing her hands up in the air in a clear sign she was just as annoyed at everything as the others, she was just more inclined to show it at this point. "We don't know anything of what it said, just a vague description from Ying. And now that Dorian has it, if he even does then what?"

"There's someone else in town who knows what's in it," Roy spoke standing up from the rock he had been sitting on the whole conversation.

"Lady Lei."

Roy affirmed Dick's words with a head nod. "I'm sure of it."

_She would have to_, Dick thought to himself. Lady Lei was Ying's boss. She would or at least should know everything to know about what she had sent him on. Meaning she would know about the book, being Jade Sun, and know about Dorian. Those could be the only reason why she's show her face now of all times.

Dick was brought out of his thoughts by a tentative voice coming from next to Conner. M'gann didn't seem all too thrilled at just where this conversation was headed her hands wringing and unwringing her sleeves in a nervous gesture. "You know Batman said-"

"Yea, he says a lot of things. Doesn't mean we've listened before," Dick spoke, a smirk making its way across his face. By now they all knew what that smirk meant. It was time to make a move whether the Justice League approved of it or not. "What's the plan leader?" the youngest of the group asked Kaldur his sunglasses flashing in the moonlight.

"We head to the source."

**-xXx-**

Eyes closed, Kaito breathed in slowly counting to five seconds before holding it and letting the air out just as steady. _Nothing like stale hospital air to work through mediation with_, he thought before giving up all notions of trying to relax, Dante's orders. The older male had always seemed to surprise the guns expert on just what he did in his spare time, who knew the irate quick to shoot male even knew the first thing about relaxing?

Pushing up from the wall Kaito spared a quick glance to the young male on lying prone on the bed. It had been just under a few minutes that he had finally gotten to sleep wanting to make sure that Lee, that was the older gentleman's name was if Kaito could remember correctly, got home safe.

It had given them all quite the scare on finding the young male crumpled on the ground barely breathing, Lee unconscious and stuffed in the bathroom. Lady Lei was not pleased to say the least although she said nothing of the incident, even whilst the nurses bustled around her brother opting for Dante and him to do the talking. For her seemingly indifferent façade Kaito knew that was exactly what his Lady was doing, placing on an act. He doubted the young man even knew his sister had even been in multiple times to see him.

Running his hand through greying hair Kaito walked quietly over to the bed looking down at the young male, his charge. Placing a hand on Ying's shoulder Kaito shook his head mumbling to himself words he would not dare say out loud less he be heard by someone else, especially not his Lady. Midsentence Kaito felt a presence that felt much different from the nurses walking to and fro outside. This one coming from directly out the window.

Whirling around to the window Kaito whipped his gun out ready to shoot, safety off and finger on the trigger until he saw just who had stepped through, a small smirk playing across his features.

The Young Justice.

Pulling his hand slowly away from Ying's sleeping form Kaito spoke, his voice soft as if keeping in mind the sleeping male lying in the room. "You startled me young ones." Kaito placed his gun back into the waistband of his pants, the first to put away his weapon; there was no need for such hostility right now. Smiling he took a sideways step away from the bed all the while knowing the Young Justice where watching his every move the whole while waiting for him to do something, anything to give them a reason for fighting someone. Stopping at the door Kaito lent his back against the wall crossing his arms over his chest. "I am here on more peaceful terms."

It was Kaldur who spoke up first, he too placing away his weapon following the older male's example. No doubt he had not been expecting to see him, at least not at the hospital at this time, his question confirming the suspicion. "Where's Mr. Travis?"

The undertone of hostility in Kaldur's voice was not missed upon the criminal's ears as Kaito seemed to be thinking for a moment. "The older gentleman is currently at home catching a much needed rest. If he had of asked I would have informed him of how hard it is to watch over the xiaoshagwar." Glancing over to Ying the older male returned his attention to the young teens in front of him his brown gaze lingering on Dick for far longer than necessary before continuing.

"I volunteered to stay behind and watch the boy in place of your Black Canary. Old men need their rest after all and it would not be necessary to have all of our fish in one barrel. Not to mention as frightening as I'm sure your mentor can be I'd rather not have her here alone. Dorian is not a man to be taken lightly if you don't know how to handle him."

"So you've dealt with him before?"

"A few times in the past. Way before any of you were thoughts…Well, some of you. Sneaky son of a-you get the idea," Kaito amended quickly giving a slight smirk and a shrug.

"Do you have any clue where he would be right now?"

"Now you know young one," Kaito said addressing Dick as he had asked the question, ignoring the glare he could feel behind the shades. "If we knew that information there would be no need for me to be on American soil."

"Then how would you have known it was him who ordered the attack?" Artemis challenged still not liking the idea of working with the Jade Sun. Not after before.

Pushing up from the wall Kaito made no move in either direction, just standing near the door. "It's his M.O. That and Lady Lei is very intuitive with these things." Roy didn't miss the quick glance he made at Dick, unconsciously taking a step forward to block the younger male from his gaze. As if not seeing or choosing to ignore the action, Kaito continued to speak. "It was brought to our attention by Mr. Travis that you saved Ying-Xue's life. Lady Lei will not admit to it but she is rather grateful you did. On appearances her heart is as tough as a tortoise shell but she cares about her family. It is just never healthy within our line to show it."

"We just did what anyone would do in that situation."

"Trust me when I say not anyone would have. Thank you."

"We just came to talk to Ying."

Raising a brow at the younger of the male redheads Kaito crossed his arms over his chest brow raised in curiosity at just what the Young Justice were thinking, if they were thinking at all. They by far had more guts than half of the men Kaito had trained in the past decade, none of whom would have disobeyed a direct order from him let alone Dante. Not if they wanted an earlier death wish, especially at the hands of the less stable Japanese-American male.

"I remember a specific order should have been handed out to you all about this," Kaito said as a form of reminder for the teens. A way to see their commitment to this mission and a final way to see just what he had really been up against all those months ago on their first meeting in the warehouse. They definitely didn't seem like the same kids as back then.

"It is still a matter that concerns us Mr. Kamishiro."

Nodding his head at the Atlantia's words, Kaito's face broke into a crocked grin before reaching for the door. "My lips are sealed as the American expression goes. I'll leave you children to talk." Taking a hold of the doorknob Kaito opened the door before turning to give the teens one more parting sentence before leaving. "I see such a bright future ahead of you all. Take care not to waist it."

Dick watched as the door closed before turning to M'gann nodding his head. There was no telling how much time they had before being found out meaning they needed to act quickly. Ying was no doubt exhausted, clear by the fact he had yet to wake up, either that or he were drugged up at this point, but they had to talk to him. They had to get answers, straight answers from the male or this would never end. At least not the way that it should.

Surrounding the bed now, M'gann placed a tentative hand upon Ying's forehead, her gaze flickering from one member to the next in silent request for permission to continue. She kept telling herself that this wasn't an invasion of privacy. That what she was doing was a way of helping them end this mission before someone lost their life when they didn't need to.

It was Kaldur who spoke up, his voice crisp and commanding giving insight on what was to come. "We all started this, we all finish this. It ends now."

Nodding with Kaldur's words Dick couldn't agree more with the male before closing his eyes. "Let's do this."

**-xXx-**

**End Chapter**


	29. Chapter 29

_Surrounding the bed now, M'gann placed a tentative hand upon Ying's forehead, her gaze flickering from one member to the next in silent request for permission to continue. She kept telling herself that this wasn't an invasion of privacy. That what she was doing was a way of helping them end this mission before someone lost their life when they didn't need to._

_It was Kaldur who spoke up, his voice crisp and commanding giving insight on what was to come. "We all started this, we all finish this. It ends now."_

_Nodding with Kaldur's words Dick couldn't agree more with the male before closing his eyes. "Let's do this."_

**-xXx-**

Wind. It was the first thing Dick felt, fluttering gently across his face and neck, ruffling his black hair as is skin heated up slowly, no doubt being kissed by the overhead sun playing peek-a-boo behind slow rolling clouds. The smell of flowers hit his senses next filling his nose with the pleasant aroma of lavender and honeysuckle. Opening his eyes Dick was near overwhelmed, definitely passed the whelmed stage, at the vast field of flowers, seemingly going on for miles and miles and miles, ending of into the distance, cut off by the flat horizon.

Turning to look around him Dick realized he wasn't alone, the other members of his team in just about as much of a daze as he had been, M'gann and Wally, for obvious reasons, the only two besides him whom had seemed to pull it together faster.

"Who would have thought this is what goes on in his head?" Wally mused in little more than a whisper.

"Were you thinking of gloomy skies and angry clowns?" Artemis scoffed looking around the area seeing that they were surrounded on all sides by vastness. If this was Ying's head than where was the male? She too found herself wondering for a moment just how this could possibly be Ying's head.

"More like dark alleys and ninja's," Wally spoke for no other reason than to just keep the silence at bay. Sure the rustling of their clothes as the wind danced around them paired with the flowers blowing caused some form of sound but it was still deafeningly quiet. If any of them knew the green eyed male they'd know he hated silence.

"You watch too much television."

Whirling around at the familiar voice, Dick was shocked to see Ying standing behind them, arms crossed lightly over his chest. It was strange to see him clothed in a light grey hoodie and sweat shorts his feet bare when in the real world he was in a pale blue hospital gown. He looked completely healthy no traces what -so-ever of him having been shot and near death.

It was M'gann who spoke to the older crime fighter first, a small smile on her face. "Do you mind if we talk to you?" The soothing quality in M'gann's voice seemed to bat away whatever tension was left in Ying's shoulders as he nodded his head.

Looking from one face to the next it took Ying a few seconds to verbally state his answer, brown eyes resting on the female martian. "It is alright."

"This is…peaceful," Kaldur spoke up still in awe over the tranquil scene they had been brought to.

Nodding his head once again, Ying answered only to agree with the Atlantean male out of politeness. "It is where I like to go to think."

"Many times these places have sentimental value to a person," M'gann said trying to keep the peace for as long as possible. She knew that they needed to get to questioning the older hero, however, there were ways of going about it and the more calm the subject was the better the information flow would be. "Is it true for you?"

"Yes."

From the tone of Ying's voice and the slight raise of black brows, Roy knew he at least wasn't the only one who knew what M'gann was doing. As great as it was, they needed to know what was going on and now. "Let's just get to the point. What haven't you told us about this Ying?"

Brown eyes flickered over to stare into blue before they changed direction towards the horizon. "What do you know already?"

"You want the long hand or short hand?"

Never one to mince words Roy's tone was as demanding as any leaving little time for Ying to even think about just what it could be they knew. "Short."

A little surprised Dick had been the one to speak the older male dropped his gaze to the shade wearing male. "You're Shadow Oni and Jade Sun. We know why you came over here in the first place, we also know why you stayed."

"What we want to know," Roy continued in a less understanding manner than his 'brother', "are what's in that book Dorian took off with, where the last items can be found, why you even dragged us into all of this. You can start off with what changed you from killing Lee in the first place."

"You ever meet someone that changes your perspective on something?" Ying asked complying with the demands he felt more than obligated to meet. "Shows you that maybe the way you viewed the world was not…It had more to it than what you knew. Lee…He and his family showed me that. It was the first time that I could ever say I was…comfortable. The first time I felt safe."

Looking off into the horizon a small smile graced Ying's face for a fleeting moment before it disappeared as he went back to talking.

"I honestly don't know where the last items are, although my suspicions would be with Dorian or my-with Lady Lei."

"If Dorian where still at large, which Lady Lei predicted, then it would be harder for him to go after the items should they be within your care. So why come to us?"

Glancing to Kaldur, Ying shook his head as if having an internal conversation with himself which was weird in Wally's opinion since they were already inside Ying's head. "Harder yes, but not impossible. He would have found some way to jeopardize everything."

"What do you mean?"

"Dorian had a way, a means greater than ours for you to have trusted him. Should he have come to you all first who would you have less of a time believing, the uncle of one of your own members or a faction of criminals? It is not to say that you all could be easily fooled but anyone can play off of people's emotions, especially those whom want to keep loved ones safe. He would have seemed like more of a trustworthy person at the time. It is one of the things that we first learn in becoming an assassin. It is one of the first things you go after to take down your enemy."

"The league would have still looked into Dorian just as hard as they had done you," Kaldur spoke in disagreement to Ying's words. It was hard to believe they would act otherwise should it have been Dick's uncle or not. Batman had little trust for anyone and the small circle he did the Altantean was sure took them years to work their way through the walls.

"They did a wonderful job."

"You are good at hiding information," Zatanna spoke, her gaze lingering on Ying's stony face.

"He is better," Ying countered turning his back to the group. "Whilst I relied on half-truths and omissions Dorian relies solely on truth to spin his lies."

"He's less likely to get caught that way," Dick spoke watching the older male silently. Truth told he wasn't expecting for Ying to be so open right now about everything but maybe, just maybe, the male was about as tired of all of this as they were. In a small sense, Dick saw where Ying was coming from. Where the Shadow Oni and Jade Sun were involved they had to act quick less Dorian spin whatever lies to get to the items. After, well, there may not have been an after considering just what Dorian must have planned with the items should he ever get his hands on them all. It all made perfect sense.

That was, if it weren't Dorian they should be wary of. You could trust a dishonest person to be dishonest. It was when they began telling the truth that one must wonder, were they still lying. It was like the real life version of the boy who cried wolf and Dick and the others were stuck with wondering should they listen to the boy or let the sheep get devoured by the wolf, should there be one.

What was his gut telling him? Dick wondered as he continued to watch Ying. He wanted to believe the older crime fighter, his gut telling him on first meeting Dorian that the male was no good. There were a lot of things the man could tell him about his family however, Dick didn't know if he could stomach talking to the man who had been alive this whole time. Even possibly known who and where he was and said, let alone done nothing until now. What was his end game? Anyways there had to be a reason as to why his parents never even mentioned him having an uncle, just as much as they had never mentioned anything about this whole fiasco.

Dick was beginning to feel like secrets where the root of all evils.

"Either way we still would have looked into him," Conner said reiterating what Kaldur had said before. He couldn't see the League doing otherwise. They were very thorough in just about everything, no matter how annoying it was most of the time. Lost in his thoughts the clone of Superman was brought back to the conversation with the gentle squeeze of his hand. M'gann.

Looking down he was met with concerned amber eyes, the silent question of 'are you okay?' written as clear as day. The return of a gentle squeeze was all that was needed for the green skinned female to get her answer. Tuning back into the conversation Conner wasn't that annoyed he had missed some of what was said deducing most of it to be unimportant. It always was when he tuned it out.

"All in all it was to disrupt whatever he could have been planning. You see once the Shadow Oni got wind of where the rest of the items were there was the possibility Dorian would have found out as well."

"Which he did."

"Yes," Ying said nodding at Artemis. "We had to get to them first."

"But why tell us?" Zatanna asked a little impatiently. They needed to keep the conversation going after all.

"It was Lady Lei's wish."

"She wanted our help?"

Ying returned to face the group, a slight frown upon his face. "This is something that has stayed secret for too long and now that it is out, maybe it is not such a bad thing. Yes. She wanted your help, well mostly the League however, you all have been most helpful." There was so much Ying wanted to say to them about his older sister's reasoning's. That, he couldn't bring himself to do no matter how open he promised the group he would be. Some things one just could not divulge even if maybe, the information would help. Could change the way things were viewed. Much like they had been for him. Turning from the group yet again Ying carefully picked his way up a hill that had morphed right before the Young Justice's eyes.

About to make a comment Wally stopped on the scathing look Artemis was sending him, daring the redhead to say a word.

Dream worlds, Wally thought to himself before winking at the archer wincing soon after she punched him in the arm as they followed the group up the what should have been tiring slope. Seriously the hill looked to be at a sixty degree angle. It wasn't anything to complain about what with him being so fit and all 'fastest kid alive and what-not- but dang, why the change of scenery?

Stopping at the base of the rather large tree atop the hill, the group right behind him, Ying sat down carefully before motioned for the others to follow suit till they were all seated in a circle. "You will have to forgive me, even in mind I am still recovering."

"It's fine," Artemis cut through Wally's impending question of why they had just walked up a hill the size of Mount Kilimanjaro. So she had been thinking the same thing, the blonde just had enough tact not to ask.

"Thank you," Ying exhaled out before taking a deep breath letting it out in an even slow breath. Closing his eyes it took the older male a while to figure out just where to begin. There was a lot that he was sure they knew, more than what they had told him yet Ying was done keeping many of the secrets locked away within his head. If this were to end then things needed to be brought to the light. Eyes still closed Ying began to talk his voice deep and slow as he recounted a story long told to him by a loved one since passed.

"It was said amongst the Guardians that the author of the book was another spirit long passed from the world of the living, a nature spirit. Almost like a watcher, it was a being that was given the duty of protecting the Nian and its family from harm yet failed, the greed of man too much for it to handle on its own. To make up for the loss the spirit would possess a living creature each year during what is now celebrated as the new year and watch the account of each attack. The spirit would stand amongst the carnage; it wouldn't run, as villager after villager was ripped to shreds till it too became a victim as repentance for what it could not do."

"It was the spirit who gave the seven warriors and the monk the strength to seal the Nian after not knowing what to do, to quell her anger. After she was sealed the spirit gave the Guardians the book which has been kept for generations in hope that those who read it, those strong enough to carry the weight of the Nian's pain would protect what was left of the deity. That they would make sure she was never awoken to feel that pain again."

"That is what the book held. Her tail, her downfall, her rage, and her final resting place."

"So with it Dorian could resurrect her," Zatanna spoke not at all liking where this was going. Then again she didn't like it from the beginning.

"With all the items of course. Yes."

"Does it tell how to stop her once she's unleashed?" She continued to question.

"Should it get that far, yes," Ying spoke, his tone solemn. "Dorian has the book of that much we know. Many a time has the book been stolen from our hands for evil. There was no guarantee that it would not happen within my own so as a precaution I split the contents and hid them. As of yet I do not believe he knows of this or he would have done more than just paid me a small visit."

Dick's eyes grew large at the revelation. "Where are they?"

"What parts?" Wally had asked at the same time his best friend had spoken.

"How to resurrect the NIan and how to get her back into the items. I am just hopping that the latter part will not be needed."

"Where?" Dick asked again his patience for the answer long gone.

"Pai Sho."

If this were a cartoon Wally was sure he'd have fallen on his side by now in befuddlement. Maybe he had suffered a concussion on top of everything else. Either that or his brain had been starved of too much air before he had been resuscitated. "And you say I've been watching way too much television. What does a fictional game from a cartoon have to do with anything?"

Tilting his head Ying gave a small smile as if remembering a found memory. "It is the name I gave a stuffed toy given to me by Sammy." The smile soon disappeared Ying looking much older than he was as he stared off into the vast sky above them. "I am sure she would not mind that I modified it."

"You stuck important documentation into a stuffed animal and just what?" Roy asked, his voice filled with disbelief at the older males actions. "Hoped that he wouldn't find it?"

"Some of the best hiding spots are in plain view," Ying answered back calmly." "Dorian would not suspect someone like me to take sentimental value over an item let alone associate it with something I hold dear."

"So both portions are-" Wally began but was cut off.

"Just the one." Ying's gaze rested on the young speedster before going back to staring at the sky. "The other is-"

"In your car."

Everyone's attention snapped to Artemis whom, to the untrained eye looked unimpressed. The slight twinkle in her eyes showed that she was amused with Ying's apparent hiding skills. "Yes," Ying spoke after a moment, eyes narrowed in a suspicious glare. "How did you-"

"It's a female thing." This time it had been Zatanna whom answered an all knowing look passed between the two females. Men and their toys.

"Right," Wally drawled silently wondering himself just how she had come up with that answer although maybe he didn't want to know. Females.

"There's something that's been bugging me for a while now," M'gann spoke, her voice cutting through the fleeting silence. "When talking to my uncle you explained that he shouldn't try to make contact with the Nian. He's made contact with many enraged beings before. Why would this be any different?"

"A sealed soul is just that. Sealed. It is like being in a coma no awareness of anything happening around you. Imagine floating in a vast sea, just you. No ways of turning your anger and hatred onto anything. Now imagine finally having something to turn those emotions against. I am not saying you and your uncle are not strong beings, but dieties are stronger and rage fueling anything-he would not come out the same."

"Spoken from experience somewhere. Something happened."

It took Ying a moment to speak, for a while Kaldur believing the older male would all together ignore the question. "My grandmother." His words came out slower than before. Like every word was a pained thought baring his soul to the world. "Years ago she tried to make contact with the Nian in hopes of figuring a way to quell her suffering. She could relate, losing a husband and child in this struggle. Her empathy alone was not enough and it cost her greatly. To this day she is trapped within her own mind living her life out as a frail woman knowing nothing of what goes on in the world." Closing his eyes Ying took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. "I volunteered to do what she could not."

The group stayed silent for a while soaking in what had been said. It was Artemis whom had broken it this time, rolling her eyes at Wally's curious gaze. "How long have you been at this?" It was a question none of them had asked but one the archer feared the answer. Within the way Ying carried himself she could only guess he had been doing this job far longer than any of them, Artemis could feel it in her gut.

"I started my search at sixteen. But I've been…active…for much longer."

How much longer? Roy thought glancing over to Dick whom had been masquerading as a crime fighter since he was nine. It was possible that he had been doing it at a younger age figuring from the way that the male carried himself to what they had learned so far in Dick's mom's diary. If all of this was viewed as a family business and some started their children at damn near birth then…Ying was screwed since day one.

"But you're just a foot soldier to her," Raquel spoke up. "Why go through all of the trouble." It just wasn't right in Raquel's eyes, the female quiet for the large portion of the conversation. She couldn't fathom why someone knowing what they did, would go through all this trouble to possibly die, for someone whom didn't seem to care all too much about their wellbeing. Sure his boss, Lady, whatever, had come to the states _only_ after he had been shot but that could have been chalked up to her wanting to 'do the job right.'

Seriously who would send a 16 year old on a death mission? Even their mentors had a limit as to what they would send their students out against, only things they could handle.

"Loyalty," Ying spoke with a calm air. "Loyalty and duty."

Shaking her head the dark skinned female smirked. "You're definitely crazy."

That gained a tired smirk in turn from Ying. "Thank you."

"I think it's time we left," M'gann spoke noting the tired gaze of their journey's host. He was by far more reserved than when they had first gotten into his mind scape his breathing slower than previous.

Getting up Kaldur held his hand out to Ying whom shook it. "If there's anything else we need to know you'll tell us." If it had been a few weeks ago, Kaldur was sure he would have phrased that statement into a question. Something in him however, was saying that he could trust the older male. Even if it was up to a point it was something.

"You have my word. Stay safe. All of you."

The sincerity of the words that left Ying's mouth made Dick stop in his tracks as he had begun following the others back down the hill. Turning to face Ying the Asian male sat legs crossed, eyes closed, humming a tune that for a fleeting moment seemed so familiar to the raven haired teen. Dick stood there for a few seconds more, watching the male as he seemingly drifted off to sleep (which was weird considering) before rushing to catch up to the others.

**-xXx-**

Waiting outside of the room Kaito bopped his head to a tuneless song arms crossed over his chest. Checking the time on his watch he sighed. It had been at the most, fifteen minutes since he had left the children alone wondering just how long it would take them to do, well, whatever it was they were doing. He couldn't help the smile crossing over his face at the small fact that Ying, their Ying, had gained some friends. Sure it could have been underneath better circumstances but it was still a good thing. Kaito would never say it out loud but he never did feel like the life they lived was right for the younger male. He was by far the softest out of the siblings, Kaito having watched him grow into the young man he had become.

Maybe after this he could live out his life.

Going back to humming the song Kaito was just in the beginning stages of relaxing yet again before his most favorite person in the whole world came waltzing down the hallway. He did not look happy in the least.

Let the fun begin, the weapons specialist thought to himself before readying for the verbal onslaught he knew was to come.

**-xXx-**

"You are left alone for no more than an hour and already you can't follow a simple direction?" Dante Ueda's enraged voice could be heard through the other side of the hospital room door as Dick and the others slowly came too.

The dorm knob turned Ueda's voice getting louder as he and the object of his disgruntled affection made their way back into the room. "What would have happened should that bastard have come back and-" Dante stopped short, the rest of his sentence hanging in the air as he stared at the teens in the room all of whom should not have been there. They damn sure weren't there when he had left the weapons expert in charge of watching Ying. Glaring at Kaito, the older male took quick stock of the situation, hundreds of scenarios running through his mind, none of which made the most sense as to why they were even in the hospital room to begin with.

"Your assistance on this mission had been terminated," Dante spoke looking to the eldest of the group, ignoring the other 'children' as he let his displeasure with the current situation be known. Crossing his arms Dante didn't bother to hide his anger as he continued to speak driving home his point. "You may leave, now."

"How do you know we weren't just here to visit a friend?" Artemis shot at the Jade Sun's drug specialist not at all liking his tone or his obvious dismissal of them. Heck, if it hadn't been for them they wouldn't have gotten as far as they did in this mission but nobody seemed to realize that not so little detail. How quick some people forgot.

"Your concern is noted," Ueda ground out not at all pleased to have been talked back to by a child. The lack of respect from the younger generation was something Dante would never understand. He could remember a time when even looking at an adult the wrong way would constitute for a punishment. Yet, here the Young justice stood speaking out of turn, defying their superiors orders, and all for what? To prove themselves? This was not the proper way to do it. Taking a deep breath the male pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm down before speaking, the action not helping much Dante glanced over to Kaito whom remained silent, his presence doing nothing to help the situation. Seconds from calling out the male the door once again opened revealing the presence of someone Dante hadn't planned on seeing again anytime soon.

"Ah hell."

**-xXx-**

**End Chapter**

**Sorry about the long update. The usual...The usual. And as always hope you enjoyed. XD**


End file.
